


pour surmonter la peur (je peux avec toi)

by vascobond



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Adoption, Age Play, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Hybrids, Baby Harry, Cages, Cat Ears, Cat/Human Hybrids, Crying, Cuddling & Snuggling, Daddy Louis, Diapers, Dom/sub Undertones, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Hybrid Harry, Hybrids, Kitten Harry, Kitten Harry Styles, M/M, Non-Sexual Age Play, Past Abuse, Sad Harry, Stuffed Toys, an excess of pet names like kitty and kitten and baby, baby bottles, harry snugglin w pink blankies, harry's age is entirely open to interpretation but he's like. young, louis and liam are like a married couple taking care of their baby but its 100 percent platonic, sad lil baby harry, very pg rn and idk if it'll get saucier but we'll see
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-12
Updated: 2018-10-17
Packaged: 2019-03-17 06:10:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 28,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13653057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vascobond/pseuds/vascobond
Summary: Inside the cage is the cutest hybrid he’s ever seen before. He’s got brown curls sweeping around his head and soft little brown ears poking out of them. His tail is short-haired and soft looking, wrapping around his folded up legs. He bites at his very pink lips as he studies Louis, claws scratching very lightly at his knees. He’s shivering, though there’s at least two blankets shoved into the other corner of his cage, unused; worse, the cat looks teary and sad. Louis’ heart breaks and impulsively tells himmine, mine, mine; get him, get him, get him.or: Louis wants a cat hybrid and Harry is perfect.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i absolutely did not edit this and idk if i ever will but here it is

Driving to the adoption center Niall works at was an impulse Louis probably should not have followed. He used to do this pretty regularly, to come feed the cats, until his work started taking up too much of his time. Now, with his company’s merger passed and done, he feels like he has all the time in the world. He tells himself he’s just going to play with the cats because it helps out the workers - it’s like he’s volunteering, doing some  _ good  _ in the world and all. But, really, he’s had his adoptive parent paperwork done for months and he’s itching to just bring a cat home. Liam’s already said he wants one, too, so why the fuck not? He says aloud, “I’m just going to feed the cats,” but he’s got a feeling that today he’s going to find one to bring home. 

It feels like an excited rush going into the playroom to find twenty or so cat hybrids playing with one another - happy meows and purring filling the room. Niall walked in with him, food in his arms, and the whole room rushed to his feet. Most of them were very young, Louis noted, still kittens. It was rare, anyway, for cats to stay in shelters for very long. Generally, it was difficult to find them anyway, most people ended up settling for dog hybrids or some other breed because cats were so expensive. Really, their ownership was  _ coveted _ . Louis was so excited to actually own one, he wanted to find one today, he had to. He and Niall rationed out their dinnertime meals at the tables in the next room over - some chicken meal that they all seemed to enjoy very much - and after everyone was served, he left the room under the care of another employee and brought Louis back through the playroom, a can of plain grilled salmon in his hands. 

“So, a few weeks back,” Niall tells him quietly, “they found another of those disgusting breeding houses and brought us back maybe twenty pets. There was ten or more sent to that other center downtown because we just haven’t got enough space, and most of the ones we kept were, like, really young dogs. Basically, I think the breeders there had just sold off a bunch of their cats and were waiting on these ones - dunno. Anyway, we’ve only this one cat-” Niall pauses at the door to the kennels, the room where they keep the cat’s cages. Usually, they’re left unlocked and opened for the cats to enter and exit as they please. Louis used to think it was inhumane for them to be in cages until he’d met a few cats and found out they quite liked them. Niall had said something about the confinement of it making them feel safe. 

Niall continues a little quieter, “His name is Harry and he’s very scared. They must’ve had him his whole life. We think they were keeping him until he was an adult but he’s not quite old enough to breed yet, so that’s his luck we found him soon enough, I suppose. And, see, since they kept ‘em all alone, he doesn’t know a lot of words - he’s not delayed, I guess you’d say. He seems to pick up new words well enough, but he doesn’t talk a lot at all. I think they may have punished the pets for making noise, he’s so scared of being loud.

“He’s not so scared of the other cats but they haven’t really taken an interest in him because he’s so quiet, hasn’t really an interest in playing with them, so he likes to stay in here all day. He won’t eat, usually, because he won’t come out of his cage. I’ve heard from some of the carers from the dogs that they’re like this, too - just very scared. He’s terrified of people and just - he won’t ever come out of his cage. He just sits in the back and looks at you. Won’t eat either, he won’t come out when the other cats are here and he won’t eat anything we leave in his cage. He must be starving.” 

“That’s sad, poor cat,” he says sincerely. It’s heartbreaking, those breeding houses. Cats in particular are very pricy, coveted creatures, and evil people have been taking advantage of this for years, forcing hybris to breed in terrible circumstances and selling their babies off. He can’t imagine the stress put on the little cat, it breaks his heart just imagining it.

“Yeah,” Niall nods and presses the door open to the kennels. It’s warm in there and the sound of their talking echoes around concrete floors. The spacious kennels line the walls, stacked two high, and the doors of most are swinging open. Inside the kennels are various toys, beds and pillows, and water bottles. Louis thinks they look quite cozy. 

“So,” Niall continues, “I thought I’d try coming in here to give Harry food, see if he’ll come out and say hi.” There’s a grin in his voice, that happy sound he gets when he’s talking to the cats. It makes Louis smile. Niall stops in front of the bottom kennel of the last row and kneels down in front of it.

“Hey, Harry, you okay?” There’s no verbal response.

“You want to meet my friend, Louis? He’s very nice, I promise.” Niall waits again. “He’s going to give you some fish, yeah?” Niall smiles wider and nods at Harry, “Yeah, you like salmon best or do you want tuna?” Another pause, “No, this one? Okay, Harry. This is Louis, here.”

Louis kneels down next to Niall and looks into the open cage. Inside is the cutest hybrid he’s ever seen before. He’s got brown curls sweeping around his head and soft little brown ears poking out of them. His tail is short-haired and soft looking, wrapping around his folded up legs. He bites at his very pink lips as he studies Louis, claws scratching very lightly at his knees. He’s shivering, though there’s at least two blankets shoved into the other corner of his cage, unused. Worst, the cat looks teary and sad. Louis’ heart breaks and his heart impulsively tells him  _ mine, mine, mine; get him, get him, get him. _

“Hi, Harry. How you doing? You hungry?” Harry doesn’t respond, just looks at him silently. He’s never seen a cat so quiet before.

Niall puts the can into his hand and tells the cat, “Listen, Harry, Louis’ going to feed you, okay? And you don’t have to come out of your cage but if you do want to, I’m gonna close the door to the kennels so no one else but me will come bother you, okay? You’ll be safe.” Very slowly, and constantly telling Harry he’s okay, Niall stands and heads for the door. When he’s out of Harry’s sight, he gestures to Louis that he should try and get Harry out. He nods back. When they’re alone, he turns back to the cat and opens up the can of fish. His little ears twitch at the sound and his nose wiggles up at the scent and Louis is already pulling out his phone to tell Niall,  _ I’m getting him _ . 

“Harry, darling, do you want to come out of your cage?” There’s no response. Harry’s wiggling his toes from his spot in the shadowy corner of the cage and Louis can’t imagine that being comfortable after very long, especially with his tail.

“I think you must be really hungry, aren’t you? Niall says you haven’t come out to eat in a while, kitten.” He didn’t think he’d get any kind of direct responses from the cat, so he’s very surprised when he sees him nod back, very slow and calm. Louis beams back at him. 

“Good, kitten.” There’s a sudden light in Harry’s eyes at being called good that Louis certainly doesn’t miss,  “I’ll make a deal with you, yeah? You can have a piece of fish if you come out and get it.” Harry immediately looks very panicked, his eyes widen and tears fill up. 

“Don’t worry, honey, I  _ promise _ you’ll be okay. You just have to come right up here and get the fish and you can go right back inside. Do you think you can be a good boy and do that for me?” Harry shifts and nervously bites at a freshly filed claw, fidgeting his other hand against his leg. Then, the cat’s mouth moves a little and Louis doesn’t hear anything but realizes he must have been speaking.

“What’s that, kitty?” He leans forward and listens intently.

Gently, a very small voice whispers, “No hurt?”

Louis’ heart is breaking. He answers, “No, of course not, sweetheart. No one will hurt you, it’s just food. You can go right back inside after you get a piece, okay? I promise you’ll be okay.”

Harry shifts back onto his feet in the corner and inches forward ever so slightly. Little by little he approaches the edge of the cage, but stays inside. He flicks his eyes back and forth through the room where he hesitates.

“Niall’s closed the door so I promise it’s just us in here and you’ll be alright.” Harry still looks very unsure and from the increased proximity, Louis can now hear how short and uneven his breathing is. He’s scared the kitten will have a panic attack, but he needs to eat and he needs to understand that he’s safe now. Louis’ heart is absolutely fucking breaking at his red eyes and the way he worries his lip between his teeth. 

“No one’s gonna hurt you, kitty, I promise.”

Harry looks at him and then to the fish in his hand, “Please?” he whispers. 

“Good manners, kitty, but you have to come out, babe. Just for a second. There’s no other pets in here, yeah? Just me and some  _ tasty _ fish.” Harry breathes very deeply and continues shifting his eyes between the fish and Louis’ eyes and surveying the room around them. He paws up and down uncomfortably where he sits.

“ _ Real  _ fishy? No hurt?” He doesn’t look like he quite trusts Louis and it’s sad but he thinks that if he were in Harry’s situation, he wouldn’t trust anyone either. 

“No, I promise it’ll all be okay if you come get the fish. No one will hurt you. And the fish is good, see?” He plops one in his mouth and swallows it.

The kitten contemplates again, “Back in?”

“Yep! One fish and you can go right back inside.”

After a while of staring at the fish he whispers, “okay,” but doesn’t move. He peeks around the corners of the kennel a few more times and makes a few false starts before he works up the courage to exit. When he does, he darts out of the cage to swipe the piece of fish out of Louis’ hand and swoops back inside with a swish of his tail, faster than Louis can track. He settles just inside the darkness of his cage to slip the fish into his lips and chews it very slowly.

Louis smiles very brightly and tells him, “Good job, kitty! See? You did it and everything was okay. Wasn’t it?” Harry nods back and his expression is almost grinning, he seems so pleased to have the fish, maybe even proud of himself. “Yeah, that’s right kitten, good.”

“Fishy?” he whispers again, “Please?”

Louis pretends to think about it, “Hm, I think you can have another fish if you… tell me your favorite color.”

Harry looks extremely confused but answers anyways, “Pink.”

“Very good, kitty.” Harry almost smiles again, stares intently at Louis’ eyes, “That’s a nice color, I like pink, too. Do you want to come get your fish again?” Harry nods a little bit more confidently than before. 

“Here you go, babe.” He holds out another piece. He thinks he sees Harry outright smile as he darts out and in and it’s so sweet that Louis never wants to let him out of his sight. 

They repeat this process, Louis asking some simple question about Harry, until the cat is sitting on his heels in the cage and pawing his hands up and down in anticipation of the next piece of fish, which he savors slowly in the back of his kennel before scooting up close to the edge to await his next bite. 

Eventually, he asks, “What’s your favorite toy?” 

Harry thinks for a second with pursed lips then turns back into his kennel, pulling a string of bells from between his blankets very quietly, careful not to make them jingle. He holds them up to Louis and then, after looking around the room for anyone else, hands the bells to the man with a gentle hand. He assumes that Harry’s probably hidden the bells because he doesn’t want the other cats to take them away, but that doesn’t explain the careful way he’d handed them to Louis.

“You like the bells best?” A nod. “Why do you keep them in your blankets, kitten? Don’t you want to play with them?” 

He nods initially, but answers, “Loud. No play,” while shaking his head. He reaches back out with expectant eyes to get the toy back and then places it very softly between his blankets again, while looking at them with adoration. Louis wants to buy him as many fucking bells as he can physically carry. 

“Kitty, you can make noise, you know? If you play with the bells, no one will be upset that you’re loud. I  _ promise _ .” Harry doesn’t respond, just looks away from Louis at the floor. He doesn’t know how to convince Harry, so he just leaves it for now. He’s still determined to get him as many bells as his little heart desires. 

When Louis has made it halfway through the can, he’s found out Harry’s favorite kind of fish - salmon, which he called  _ this fishy  _ \- and his favorite season - summer - but there were a lot of things Harry didn’t know the answer to. When Louis asked, “When’s your birthday, kitty?” Harry looked very confused and shook his head, said, “Dunno?” He looked very concerned that he wouldn’t receive a fish because he didn’t know the answer, so Louis told him that was okay and let him have the fish anyways. Eventually, he runs out of questions that he thinks Harry will be able to answer and decides to get the kitten completely out of his cage using the rest of the fish.

“Okay, I have a really big favor to ask, honey.” The kitten anxiously sits back but doesn’t answer.

“You can have all the rest of the fish - and I can even get you a whole ‘nother can, if you want - but you have to come out and stay out, can you do that for me?”

Harry’s brow furrows and he looks very torn as he stares at his hands and thinks. He whimpers, tears welling up in his eyes, “Scared, Louis.”

“What of, honey?”

“Dunno,” he whispers. He sounds teary again, his breathing picking up a bit and Louis can see his chest heaving. 

“Hey, hey, it’s okay to be scared sometimes, sweetheart. If you came out for me, I’d be really happy, but I understand if you don’t want to.” Harry still looks anxious, it makes Louis’ chest hurt thinking about how bad Harry’s life must have been to make him so scared. He hates this for him. 

“I’ll tell you what, kitty. If you don’t want to, you can just stay inside and you can have the rest of this fish, but if you come out you can have another whole can all to yourself, too. Which one would you like?”

“Um,” he says quietly. Everything about him is very quiet, like he’s trying to be as unobtrusive as possible. He sits like he’s trying to take up as little space as possible. He’s trying to make himself into nothing and he doesn’t even realize it. Louis is in love with this little kitty and he’s devastated by his anxiety. He’s told Harry it’s okay if he doesn’t want to come out but he desperately wants him to come out just so Louis can pet him.

“Both?” Harry whispers after a while.

Louis laughs, “No, sweetie.” Harry sighs disappointedly. 

“How much fishy?”

“About twenty, see?” He shows him the tin, “But if you come sit out here with me, I’m sure I can find you some more, yeah?” The boy licks at his lips, staring at the fish, he must be so hungry, it makes Louis feel a little sick. At this point, he’s not sure he could even stand to keep up with the ultimatum he’s given Harry. He’d give this kitten anything he asked for.

“Niall?”

“You want Niall to come? Would that make you feel better?” A slow nod. “We can do that.”

After a very long time, he whispers, “Okay,” so quietly that Louis almost doesn’t hear. 

He smiles brightly and leans towards the cage, “Yeah?”

Harry fidgets, “Like Niall,” he says thoughtfully, “Niall, please.”

Louis smiles still, “Yeah, I like Niall, too. He’s nice, isn’t he?” Harry nods. “I’ll call Niall, then, okay? And he’ll bring us some more fish for you.” He slips his phone out and types to Niall,  _ more fish _ . When he puts the phone back, Harry is biting at his claws and twirling his tail around a finger. 

“Right, Niall’s coming. Do you want to show him what a good boy you are and come out to see him or do you want to wait?”

Harry looks up to Louis’ eyes like he’s been shocked, “ _ Good boy _ ,” he whispers back. 

“Yeah, you’re a very good boy, Harry.”  Harry smiles at him, just barely, but Louis doesn’t want him to think that he’s only good if he comes out. He doesn’t want to teach him that him being a good boy is circumstantial, so he adds, “If you stay inside, you’re a good boy, too, though. Okay, babe?” Harry doesn’t understand, but he slowly nods at Louis anyways. 

He’s not given much time for a decision. The kennel door opens and, though it was slow and quiet, it scares Harry back into the cage. Louis can’t help but sigh a little. He takes the fresh can from Niall when he comes around, tuna now, and motions for him to come kneel beside him. 

“Hi, Harry, it’s just me.”

“Harry? Did you want to come out for Niall, too? You’d be a really good boy if you do.”

Very slowly, very quietly, he comes up to the very edge of the cage again. He looks around and the room is empty, nowhere to go except back into the cage. 

“If you come out you can sit just right outside the cage,” Louis adds a second later, hesitantly, “or with me, if you want to.”

“ _ Good boy _ ?”

Louis smiles widely and nods, “Yes, you’re a good boy no matter what. But, I’d really like it if you came out.” Harry almost smiles. He sees it in the half dimple that forms on his cheek. Louis’ chest hurts again. 

“ _ Okay _ ,” and then he’s crawling out and sitting on his heels right in front of Louis, worriedly looking around the room before he deems it safe and settles a bit. Still, he’s very on edge, like at any moment, he’s ready to sprint back inside the cage. 

“Good boy, Harry!” Both men smile. Harry smiles up at Niall and studies Louis sitting in front of him with twitching paws, not making eye contact and biting his lips and claws. He sits up on his feet like he’s ready to run back into the cage and Louis doesn’t even know where to begin, doesn’t know how to get him to stop feeling so unsettled. 

“That’s a really good boy, Harry. Good job, kitten. You know what I think you get for being so good?” Niall asks him. Harry looks at Louis’ hands excitedly, a very small smile still on his lips.

“Fishy?” He almost sounds worried that fish isn’t the answer, so Louis rushes to press the already opened can of fish into the cat’s hand. He holds it for a second, looking up and down between the can and Louis, like he’s making sure it’s okay. 

Louis nods at him, “Go ahead, kitty, you can have all of it.” Harry, still much slower than Louis expected him to be, picks up piece after piece of fish and puts them in his mouth, chewing slowly and grinning very small. He makes the most noise he’s made so far, small mews between bites.

Niall picks up the lid of Harry’s can and removes the lid from the new one as he exits, telling Harry again he’s very good for getting out of the cage. Before he goes, he gives Louis a knowing look that the other man pointedly ignores. 

“So, kitty, how’s it being outside? You okay?”

Harry looks down at his fish and nods slowly. He’s still sitting on his feet and nervously watching the door, but he doesn’t look any less uncomfortable than when he was in his cage. He’s shivering, still, and Louis can’t tell if it’s because he’s cold or because he’s scared. 

“Harry?” He flicks his eyes up at Louis and holds the can of fish a little closer to his chest. “Why are you shivering, kitty? Do you want something warm?”

For the most part, the unadopted cat hybrids that Louis has seen take to wearing their specialty boxers, with holes cut out for their tails, and, if they’d like, a white t shirt. Harry has on both, the pants fit him fine and the shirt looks quite comfortably oversized, and the collar of his shirt has noticeable puncture marks from where Harry’s bitten it. Typically if a cat is cold, which is unlikely considering the temperature of the kennels, they request and receive more blankets. Harry has at least two, maybe three in his own kennel, but he hasn’t made any move to touch them. If anything, Niall would have given him a long sleeved t shirt to replace his current one or given him warm water. 

“Are you cold or are you scared, kitten?”

Harry very hesitantly nods his head. 

“Both?”

He nods again. Louis wants to cry.

“Why don’t you get your blankets, kitten? They’d keep you warm, you know. I bet they’re soft, too.”

He doesn’t answer for a really long time. Louis doesn’t know where to go with this, doesn’t know how to help if he won’t tell him what’s going on.

“Is it because your bells are in there?” No, Harry silently replies. 

“Why not then, kitty?” Silence. “Can you be a good boy and answer me, please? I just want to help you, make sure you’re warm.”

Harry looks very teary again. He’s halfway through the second can of fish and he’s tearing up as he plops the pieces into his mouth with his fingers. His eyes are red and he’s swallowing hard like he’s trying his hardest not to cry. Louis’ fucking heart is breaking, he’s not going to be able to sleep tonight. 

Louis’ phone vibrates next to him and it’s nearly eight o’clock already, so Niall’s texted him to inform him he’s got to leave soon - now, if he wants to start the adoption papers. He mutters to himself, “ _ Shit _ ,” because he doesn’t have time to help Harry with the blanket situation. He can’t think of a good solution, either. Harry sleeps in the blankets, though, doesn’t he? He doesn’t want to think about Harry 

“Okay, kitty, you don’t have to tell me, it’s okay. You’re still a good boy. But will you promise me you’ll sleep with the blankets? You’ve got to stay warm, okay, kitty? It’s not good for you to be cold.”

Harry nods but he looks very uncertain. Impulsively, Louis takes his sweatshirt off - it’s a plain black crew-neck that he definitely won’t miss - and hands it to Harry. At first, he doesn’t know what to do with the offering and just hesitantly holds it in his hand, the other holding his unfinished fish. 

“Do you want to put it on, kitty?” Harry nods, expressionless still and he makes no movement except to look back at his fish wistfully, like he’s anxious to finish it. 

“Do you need help to put it on?” Harry nods again and sets the fish down on the ground beside him. “Okay, c’mere, kitty.”

Carefully, they maneuver Harry into the sweatshirt, and Louis finds it precious the way his ears pop out of the top and how he brushes his curls out of his face afterwards and looks up at Louis with his first genuine smile. He curls into the sweater, fish temporarily forgotten, and sighs with a very pleased purr. 

“Warm, kitty?” Harry nods, eyes closed in bliss. 

“You can keep that, Harry, but I want you to promise me you’ll use your blankets, too.” Harry doesn’t protest, but doesn’t look convincing when he nods at Louis. 

The door opens to the kennel and shocks Harry, suddenly, he’s back in his cage and back against the wall, breathing heavy. 

It’s just Niall, and he kneels in front of the cage to say, “Oh, sorry, Harry, didn’t mean to scare you.” He genuinely sounds upset to have scared Harry back into the kennel. But, Louis supposes he needed to go back in, anyways, if Louis was to leave soon. 

“You want him, yeah?” Niall whispers to Louis.

“Obviously.” Niall smiles, very pleased that Harry’s got a very good home to go to.

“Harry, can you come back up here for just a second, it’s okay.” Harry approaches slowly. His smile from before is gone, but now he’s worrying the ends of the sweatshirt in his fingertips instead of his lip.

“How would you like to go home with Louis soon? He could adopt you.” Louis smiles at the sound of it. Harry could come home with him. He’s never going to have to be scared again and Louis’ going to make sure of it. He’s just got to convince Harry of it. 

Sadly, the kitten doesn’t look very sure. The teary anxiety in his eyes has only worsened after the question. Niall hurriedly tells him, “It’s okay, Harry, you don’t have to decide right this minute. Louis can come back a few times and you can get to know him before you decide, okay?” Harry nods, though he’s anxiously curling the ends of his sweater into his palms and shifting restlessly, eyes flickering everywhere except to anyone’s eyes. 

“Yeah, I’ll come back and see you, Harry, how’s that?”

Harry nods quickly, he even goes as far as to mutter, “Please? Promise?”

“I promise, kitty, I’ll be back tomorrow, okay?”

Harry’s breathing won’t calm down, though. He keeps heaving in breaths and fidgeting with his tail and he won’t look either of the men in the eyes. 

“Harry, you okay? What’s wrong, kitty?” Louis asks, as softly as he can. He wants desperately to  pet him, but he’s almost certain it will get a negative reaction. Harry just keeps shaking his head in response to their questions and shifting between biting his lip or sticking his claws through the hem of his t shirt. Besides his breathing, he’s altogether silent; Niall and Louis wouldn’t have known he was crying if they didn’t see the tears running down his face. 

“Harry, kitty, is it okay if I touch you?” Harry doesn’t respond, but he does look up at Louis with wet eyes and Louis can almost hear him saying please, so he, standing, picks the kitten up and lets him wrap his arms, legs, and tail around him tightly. The kitten presses his face into the man’s shirt and shakes softly with the sobs he’s clenching in the back of his throat. 

“Kitty, it’s okay, you don’t have to be quiet. You can cry, it’s alright.” Louis rubs his back with one hand and holds up the kitten with his other arm beneath his legs. He weighs  _ nothing _ and it’s no wonder his t shirt looks so big on him, he’s practically wasting away. Harry only lets out very small whimpers, nothing near whole hearted crying.

“Harry, darling, calm down. You’ve got to breathe or you’ll make yourself sick.” Louis’ hands switch between rubbing up and down the cat’s back to scratching against his scalp while he instinctively finds himself practically rocking him like an actual baby. He can only think about two things: how badly his heart hurts because this baby kitten is sad and how soft Harry’s hair is - his ears, even softer. Niall and him share many silent gestures; aggressive, wordless, motioning. Eventually, they silently settle on offering Harry fish to calm him down. 

“Hey, Harry, kitty, do you want some more fish?” Niall asks, “You gotta breathe for me and you can have some more fishies, yeah?” 

Harry doesn’t even react. He’s hiccuping against Louis’ shirt, pressing his face into the junction of his neck and shoulder, still trying desperately to keep himself quiet. Neither of the men understand why. Louis finds some suitable place and settles his hand there, scratching right behind Harry’s ears and telling him, “You’re a good boy, Harry, it’s okay. Try and breathe for me, sweetheart, please.”

It feels like hours before Harry calms down enough to finally speak, though he’s still practically hyperventilating. He doesn’t pull back from Louis, just turns to face Niall and says, “Wanna go.”

“Go where, Harry?” 

“With Lou.”

“You can, kitty. Why are you crying for that?”

“Can’t,” he sobs out loud now, sad and mostly human cries. Louis can’t do anything but pet his hair and hope he’ll calm down soon. 

“B- bad.”

“Bad? What? Who is, you?”

“Kitty, you are  _ not _ bad,” Louis interrupts. 

“Can’t go -,” Harry stops to breathe in shakily and Louis can feel the tears soaking into his shirt, now, “Bad, can’t - bad to go.”

“You’re bad if you go? Why?”

There’s a long string of choking breathes and sobbing from the kitten in which he gets out something like, “Said so. Bad cat. No want me.” Niall starts to pet behind Harry’s ears while Louis rubs at his back. When Harry can finally provide enough information for Niall to finally understand, there’s an angry fire in his eyes that Louis’ never seen before. Niall’s never been genuinely angry before until that very moment, not that Louis has seen.

For a second, Niall had thought Harry meant that  _ Louis  _ had said such a thing to him -  _ Bad cat. No want me. _ \- until he remembered the people who’d been arrested from the breeding house. 

“Harry, did they tell you that at the place you used to live? That no one would want you because you’re bad?” Harry sobs particularly hard, louder than before, if it were even possible. He tucks his face back into Louis’ neck and just  _ cries _ . Louis’ heart is absolutely shattered, he’ll deny it later, but he’s shedding a few tears of his own just listening. He has to bite his own lip to keep himself from breaking down, too. Just to think that Harry could believe something like that is making him hurt everywhere. He holds Harry back just as tightly as the hybrid holds him.

“Harry, listen to me,” Niall tries to be as gentle as possible but he’s  _ seething _ and it comes out in angrier bites than he can control, but he keeps his hand steady and soft on Harry’s ears, “You’re  _ not  _ bad if you go with Louis. The people at that house are gone now, okay? They’re all gone and they’re in jail because of how mean they were to you, you understand?”

Harry doesn't make any noise of recognition, so Louis tugs his hair very gently, tells him, “C’mon, Harry, sit up and listen, for me.” He’s still crying, but he at least looks at Niall. 

“You understand, Harry? There’s no more bad people trying to hurt you. You’re not bad for  _ anything _ , anymore. Okay?” 

He leans against Louis’s shoulder but doesn’t hide his face. His fingers are twisted into the t shirt the man’s wearing. Almost imperceptibly, Harry has slowed from sobbing back to nearly silent tears at the petting and the calm way Louis has been whispering to him that he’s okay, he’s safe, he’s good. After minutes, tears are still constant and he whines every now and then, but he looks at Niall and whispers, “Not bad?” very sadly.

“ _ No _ , Harry, no. You’re not bad. You’re a good boy. If you want to live with Louis, you can.”

“And I’m never, ever going to think you’re bad and I’m never, ever going to abandon you. You understand, little kitty?”

He sniffles and wipes his eyes against Louis’ shirt again, his tears very nearly gone. He sits up in Louis’ arms and looks at him, red, wet eyes and bitten lips. He nods and sniffles again and Louis smiles at him as best he can, “Yeah? You good now, kitty? You’re calm?” Harry nods again and leans back to rest against Louis’ neck. They both decide they quite like this position. 

Niall starts to say, “So, you definitely want to go with Louis, then, do you?” but halfway through, they hear Harry mumble against Louis’ neck.

“What’s that Harry?”

“Sorry,” he repeats, no louder than before.

“ _ Kitty _ ,” Louis admonishes, “You don’t have to be sorry. It’s okay to be scared, we understand and we’re not mad. Okay?” Louis feels him nod a little. His curls are ruffling against his neck and his ears are tickling his cheek and Louis’ never been more pleased. “Okay, good,” Louis responds, “You’re a good boy. Can you tell Niall if you want to come home with me?”

He nudges his face over enough to look Niall in the eyes and whispers, “ _ Please? _ ” a little teary. Niall smiles very brightly at him - that boy’s always been a god damn ray of sunshine - and scratches at his ears quickly.

“Great, Harry! That’s good, you’re gonna be really happy with Louis, I promise.” They both pet at the kitten for a moment, silently, listening to his finally even breathing. “Okay, kitten, I’m gonna go get some papers together for Louis. I’ll see you in a little bit.” Niall steps out and they’re alone again. Louis knows he has to put him away, knows he can’t keep him  _ tonight _ . He’s worried that Harry doesn’t already realize that and he’ll panic again. 

“You’re gonna come home with me now, honey. You excited?” Harry nods against his neck, nuzzling at his skin. Louis can’t see his face, but he wish he could. He wants to see him smile forever, wants to be the one that put it there. He stands there and pets Harry’s hair for a minute longer, savouring the peace. 

“Honey, you know I’ve got to go now, yeah?” Harry sits up and looks at him very sadly. He nods.

“You going to be alright?” Another nod, slower. 

“That’s my good kitty, you’ll be great. I’ll find out from Niall how long ‘til you can come home with me and I’ll come back and tell you before I go, okay?” A nod. “Good, kitty.” Harry preens at the compliment, as much as he can without smiling very widely. He nudges his head up into Louis’ hand and lets out a soft purr. 

Louis immediately breaks into a smile, “You purring, kitty?” he gasps. Harry stops instantly, looks at him worriedly. 

“No, no, kitty. It’s okay, it’s  _ good _ . I think it’s cute. You’re good. I like it.” Harry nods, and nearly grins when Louis calls him cute.

“C’mon, kitty, it’s late so I’ve got to go find Niall, okay?” Harry nods very sadly and wiggles to be let down. Louis sets him on his feet and he darts into the cage to sit up on his heels. He went willingly but Louis kneels down to him and his eyes look wet again.

“You okay, kitty? I’ll be back in a few minutes and I’ll be back tomorrow to see you, I swear.”

His lip wobbles when he answers, “Promise?”

“Yes, I promise, kitty. I’ll be right back. Okay?” He asks again. When Harry nods he scratches behind his ear once more and tears himself away - of course with another, “Good boy, Harry,” spared the cat’s way - leaving Harry kneeling in his kennel. He looks back only once when he’s about to leave Harry’s eyeline, and waves at him with as big a smile as he can manage. It’s not unlikely that Harry will be scared again once he’s left alone and it hurts Louis but he just can’t stay. 

He finds Niall and they spend nearly half an hour filling out paperwork. Louis takes a break at the half hour mark to go check on Harry because he told him a few minutes and it’s taken way more than a few minutes. Inside the kennels, he finds two or three other cats sleeping in their own beds and expects Harry to be back in the corner, like before. Instead, Harry is curled up inside his bed underneath all of his blankets, his bells tucked against his chest. He must have shut the door to his cage before laying down, so Louis slowly opens it to look at him better - he doesn’t want to think about what thoughts must have preceded Harry’s actions, doesn’t want to think about him trying to protect himself from something he can’t even fathom. His eyes are shut and his lips slightly parted and for the first time, he’s completely relaxed. Louis just stares at his sleeping face for a moment before moving to stand, but he uses the door of Harry’s cage to lift himself up and it wakes the kitten. 

Softly, he mumbles, “Lou?”

“Yeah, kitten, was just checking on you, sweetie. Go back to sleep for a little bit, I’ll be back again, I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“Okay,” he whispers and shuts his eyes. Louis waits a moment before returning to Niall. They finish the papers - it takes another hour - peacefully, now that he’s sure his kitten’s okay. While they work through signing things and filling out forms that Louis was sure he’d already done several times over, Niall tells him more about Harry. 

Harry’s had frequent panic attacks, much worse than what he’d had earlier. They bathe the cats at least once a week, more often if the cat would like to, of course. Every time so far, Harry’s sat complacently beneath the water, but cried and cried until it was over. Afterwards, he would crawl into his cage with the towel wrapped around his head, wiping at his ears and sniffling for at least an hour. Once he returned to his cage after going to eat outside, because Niall had convinced him to do so, to find the contents of the kennel displaced following the kennel’s cleaning. He attached himself to Niall’s leg and cried, always so silently, shaking and hyperventilating until Niall had relocated all of his things - just the blankets and the bells, but only after Harry could calm down enough to tell Niall what it was he was missing. That was just a few days ago and he hasn’t left the cage since. 

And, the hybrid’s fear of  _ everything _ , of exiting his cage, of people, of water, extends to the point where he won’t leave his cage to use the bathroom. Niall has to personally come to his cage every few hours and take him to the bathroom so he’ll go and often times he’s so scared of it - he can’t do it. Niall says he’s not even sure Harry knows how, after the conditions the pets were left in at the old house, but he’s not been around long enough for Niall to test all of his theories. 

At the end of it, Louis feels like he’s got an extraordinary amount of work cut out for him. He’s got to set up his house for Harry’s arrival, like he anticipated, but now he also has to do things like find a therapist because, fuck, he needs to help him get better. With the paperwork done, Niall tells him it’ll be at the very least a week - but then winks at him like that means it’ll only be a few days, once he personally speeds up the process.

Quickly, he goes back to the now darkened kennels and finds the kitten, thankfully, asleep. Gently, he whispers his name and pets his hair until his eyes flutter open. 

“There’s my good boy. I’m going to leave now, kitty, but I’ll be back tomorrow evening. Niall says it’ll be just a few days and then you can go home with me.” While Louis speaks, Harry untangles himself from his blankets and crawls over to Louis slowly. When Louis’ done, the kitten wraps his arms around Louis’ neck, with his legs still inside the kennel, and hugs him for a minute, at least. Louis pets his back and lets him do so. 

He only has Harry pull away after he tells him, “If you go to sleep, you’ll get to come home with me even sooner.” He nods slowly and settles back into his blankets with a soft purr. Louis leans inside to kiss his head and tells him, “Night, kitty. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He leaves quietly, but not before Harry whispers, breathy and soft in the nighttime, “Bye, Loulou.” Louis feels like his heart is about to overflow his chest. On the way home, he decides that if he wants to race to the pet store and buy everything they have in pink before closing, then no one has to know. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> coming soon to theaters near you: part 2


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> once again, i sure did Not edit this but it's fine
> 
> i planned this to be longer and end differently but i just wanted to get the chapter up bc its been a hot minute
> 
> also thank you all so much for liking this and your nice comments on pt 1 they make me happy !!

Louis’ been filling up his and Liam’s house with pink cat shit for a whole week. He bought nearly every pink thing he could fuckin’ find in that hybrid store the night he met Harry, but he couldn’t help himself from rushing off to the store when he realized he’d forgotten something, which would lead to him finding a hundred other things he didn’t really need at all. 

Hybrids are usually very comfortable sleeping curled up in a ball like regular cats, so there are specially made hybrid beds that resemble those basic pet beds, except larger. Louis bought two, one in white and the other in pink - since they have interchangeable cushions and he figured it’d be cute to mix the two - which he justified by telling himself the extra is precautionary, in case something happens to the first one. He did the same for a lot of other things, too. He came home with soft toys - his favorites by far being a tie between the plush pink teddy bear and the smaller, pink cat he thought Harry would love - and the softest blankets he could find - there’s, like, twelve queen sized blankets underneath Louis’ bed in addition to the four pink and three cream ones he’s already put in Harry’s bed, but he thinks no one ever has to find out about that if Liam minds his own business. Which, Louis is unnecessarily salty about Liam being judgemental because it’s his fault he keeps going to the store and coming home with all of his bags in plain sight, readily available for Liam’s judgement. He hasn’t even really said anything, just made deliberate eye contact with Louis as he heads up and down the stairs with bags in his hands and a shamed look on his face. Still, he ends up with so many soft pillows, stuffies, blankets, snacks from the grocery store he thought Harry would like - he can’t wait to give him goldfish - and toys that he would be judging himself, too. He  _ is  _ judging himself, too. He knows he’s got a problem and the problem is that he’s way too soft for this kitten hybrid he only met a few days ago. 

Once, he comes home with another fucking stuffed animal that reminded him of Harry and Liam does actually say something. Or he’s about to, and Louis beats him to the answer, looking at the furry little giraffe in his hands and sighing, “I’m just so excited, sorry.” He must’ve sounded even softer than usual because Liam coos at him, literally goes “ _ Awe _ ,” and tries to force him into a cuddle, but Louis refuses to let himself go  _ that  _ soft and fights his way out. 

The next day, Friday, Liam goes with Louis to see Harry for a little while after he gets off of work. Louis actually does have to do real work and can’t just spend all of his time at the center so he forces himself to only visit every other day and Niall always makes him leave after two hours because Louis’ not even supposed to be back in the kennels unsupervised, anyway, and Niall doesn’t want to lose his job or some shit. Still, as often as he does come, Harry absolutely lights up when he sees Louis appear in front of his cage next to Niall. The first time he came, the kitten thoughtlessly scrambled out of his cage and into Louis’ arms without even checking that the room was empty first. Louis laughed joyously and scooped him up into his lap, letting the kitten nuzzle up underneath his chin and along his collarbone and everywhere he could reach with his nose. The way he settled into Louis’ neck and whispered, “Sorry,” and, “Missed you, Loulou,” made Louis want to  _ cry  _ because it had only been a day but he fuckin’ missed him, too. 

“Missed you, too, kitty,” he said, petting his hair and returning the hug as tightly as it was being given. Immediately, he was purring happily. 

When Liam came, Louis made him wait outside until he’d gotten Harry out of his cage and then had Niall go and retrieve him, but only after he’d let Harry know Liam was there and getting explicit permission that the kitten felt alright with meeting a new person. At first, Harry didn’t say anything when Louis asked if Liam coming in was okay. It took some coaxing and repeated assurances that Harry would be a good boy for trusting Louis and Niall before he let Liam come in. When Liam did come in, he was very happy to meet Harry, but the hybrid was too hesitant to leave Louis’ lap for anything, even when Niall brought fish to use as incentive.

Niall and Louis tell him to do things like say hi to Liam and he does so because he’s so eager to please. He looks at Liam sitting cross legged across from them and whispers, “Hi, Li,” before tucking back into Louis’ chest. They spend an hour there talking to Harry or talking to each other while Louis pets Harry quietly, until the kitten falls asleep in Louis’ lap and it’s time to go home. After waking him up to say goodbye and putting him back in his bed, Niall tells them both it’s not been a great day for Harry, he woke up last night after a nightmare and hasn’t been very comfortable since. Louis’ only more glad that he came today, even if it meant he would be a little uncomfortable around Liam. 

On the following Saturday, Niall texts him and says Harry will be ready to go Monday. Louis has to take cough syrup to get himself to fall asleep each night leading up to it. On Monday, he gets up so early that he actually sees Liam before he leaves for work and gets eyed at over his teacup, but Liam doesn’t judge him too much. After all, he’s disappointed, himself, that he can’t come with Louis to pick up Harry. Louis leaves for the adoption center too early, vibrating with excitement and smiling to himself the whole way there. 

Niall hasn’t woken the kitten up yet when Louis gets there. It’s a little past 10, when Niall said for Louis to be there, and Niall tells him that Harry had a pretty good day yesterday when Niall took him outside to play with some of the tiny, newborn hybrid pets - puppies and kittens included. Harry  _ loved  _ that, told Louis all about it as soon as he was woken up. Louis pet him gently and shook him awake and as soon as his eyes opened he meowed softly and crawled into Lou’s lap, purring and mumbling about, “Played with the babies, Loulou.”

Louis hadn’t stopped smiling since days ago, smiles even brighter now that he’s holding Harry in his arms. The other cats are all in their cages, still, either sleeping or lounging, so Louis takes Harry into the empty playroom to wait for Niall. “I know,” he says, “did you have fun with the kittens, kitten?”

Harry giggles lightly, “Yes, Loulou. Nice kitties.” 

“I’m sure they were very cute, weren’t they?” Harry nods, tiredly nuzzling at Louis’ neck.

“Not as cute as you, though, right?” Harry giggles again, sleepily leaning against his prefered spot against Louis’ neck and breathing deeply, soft enough it tickles at Louis’ skin. 

He whispers after a little while, “Home, Lou?”

“Yeah, baby, you’re gonna come home with me today.” He feels Harry smile against his skin.

Louis spends a quiet minute petting Harry and smiling at the feeling of a tail swishing against his leg. As Niall enters the room, carrying things for both Harry and, presumably, some other cats, Harry whispers, “Lou?”

“Yes, kitten?”

“Um - change?” He leans back in Louis’ arms to look at his face and wavers his eyes between Louis and Niall because, usually, Niall does this and maybe Louis won’t want to. He adds, quickly, because he’d forgotten, “Please?” 

“Change, kitty?” Louis looks at Niall, who’s organizing some treats and clothes on the table, for an explanation or an offering of clothing to change him into. Harry’s still wearing the sweatshirt Louis gave him a few days ago - different than the one before, because Louis had to take that one home to wash; this one is yellow and Louis has decided he quite likes Harry in yellow, a happy color. The kitten’s also wearing the standard black fitted boxers that all the cats have, but, suddenly, Louis notices there’s something off. He  _ isn’t _ actually wearing those boxers at all. Something plush crinkles underneath Louis’ hands as he adjusts the cat in his grip and he narrows his eyes at Niall. 

Niall grabs a pair of underwear from his pile and a t shirt and hands them to Louis, saying, “Got to change his nappy, do you want to do it or me?”

“His nappy, Niall?” He asks confusedly. 

“Yeah, did I not tell you about that?” He asks and the tone of his voice suggests that he knows he definitely didn’t tell Louis about that. Louis just rolls his eyes. 

“Why do you need a nappy, love?” Louis asks Harry. He knows if the hybrid can’t answer, Niall will, but feels better asking Harry first instead of acting like he’s not there. 

“Um - accidents, Loulou.”

“You have accidents at night time? That’s okay, kitty, everyone does sometimes.” Harry breathes out against Louis’ neck again and it seems relieved. Louis glares at Niall for not telling him something like that but doesn’t really mean it. Niall goes into the back room to hand some of the hybrids that are awake little snacks if they’d like or their change of clothes for the day, so Louis takes Harry to a room with a private toilet and shower and helps Harry into his new boxers, gently pulling his tail through the back. 

After changing Harry’s t-shirt, he replaces the yellow, crew neck sweatshirt and holds up the black sweatpants for Harry to step into. Harry eyes them disappointedly, pouting a little, but not verbally rejecting them. 

“You don’t like the pants, kitty?” He shakes his head, making brief eye contact with Louis. 

“Sorry, kitten, you just have to wear pants to keep you warm, yeah?” Harry nods reluctantly, but steps forward to put the pants on. 

“Good boy, kitty. That’s good,” Louis says, scratching his scalp. Harry preens and pushes into his hand, purring with his eyes closed. He’s so fucking cute, Louis thinks. 

They go to Niall’s office after they’re done. Harry is slowly falling back asleep, because Louis is so, so comfortable and it’s nice to sleep in his arms. Hair tickles his nose, but he loves to have his arms wrapped around Louis’ neck and loves to get pet while he’s falling asleep and he loves that he gets to go home with Louis. Plus, Lou said he’d never leave Harry, ever. The thought makes Harry very happy and content to just nap peacefully, getting pet and receiving the occasional soft kiss against his hair while they wait for Niall to come back to his office and let them be on their way. He falls back asleep fully, not registering anything that Louis and Niall say. 

Niall gives Louis a bag of the typical new cat things - not that Louis needs any of it because he’s pretty sure he could start his own pet store at this point - except, there’s a few not so typical cat things that Louis doesn’t quite remember Niall ever mentioning. There’s basics, like nutrient enriched fish and chicken - the really expensive hybrid brand, Louis notes - a federally approved nail file for hybrids, some dental chew toys because hybrids tend to have rather sensitive gums, a few toys, some other miscellaneous items. But, then, there’s the diapers and there’s two baby bottles next to them and Louis’ just really confused. 

They whisper-yell at one another while Harry snores very softly on Louis’ shoulder, “Niall, what are the bottles for?”

“For him to drink out of.”

“No shit, Niall. Why does he need them?”

“Well - he’s -,” He stops, suddenly more serious, fidgets with his hands while he gauges Louis’ reaction, “he’s just - well, he’s scared of water, which is why he doesn’t like the shower, so that could be part of it. But, I think, maybe, none of the hybrids were allowed to use -” he pauses, again, “People stuff? He used - they used to make them all drink out of bowls on the ground like actual animals.” He’s absolutely shocked and he can see Niall’s own sadness through his eyes. "So he can use glasses and whatever else he just - it gives him bad panic attacks if you try and make him." They both just look at Harry sleeping soundly for a moment and Louis starts rubbing his back again, slowly. Not for the last time, Louis’ heart hurts for what the little kitten must’ve gone through.

“So, the diapers?” He asks. 

“Okay, so,” he begins defensively, “Over the past week we’ve realized Harry keeps having accidents at night and he’s too scared to go to the bathroom by himself but he’s also too scared to ask anyone to help him, so, well -”

“Diapers? You couldn’t have told me that before?”

“Why? Does it change anything?” He says the last part like he thinks the answer may be  _ yes _ which kind of pisses Louis off that Niall would even think such a thing.

“ _ No _ , obviously not, I just - I wasn’t prepared for that.”

“It’s just at night. You’ll have to see how it turns out when he’s more comfortable at your house. I’d say it’s definitely not permanent.”

Louis sighs. It’s not - it isn’t a problem, it isn’t. He really doesn’t even mind. How could he when Harry is the most precious, sweet kitten he’d ever met? It doesn’t matter to him at all if Harry wears diapers for years or drinks out of a bottle, either. The only thing he’s really concerned about is  _ Harry _ . Maybe Louis doesn’t care if he has to clean up the kitten’s diapers for the rest of his life but does Harry? Does  _ Liam _ ? This is all kind of shit because Liam didn’t really ask for, like, effort. Hybrids aren’t supposed to be so much work. And Louis doesn’t mind, of course not, but Liam probably will. If not now, then in the future. Won’t he? When Louis asked Liam if he would mind a hybrid around Liam was excited about having a little cat to show off to girls and one he could play with, but Harry doesn’t really seem to fit that job description very well. He’ll just have to ask later, even though it’s only a courtesy; if Liam somehow isn’t okay with Harry at this point, Louis would rather kick him out of his house than have to give up this precious kitten. 

“Well, anyway, can we go now?”

“Yep.”

Louis beams, suddenly very excited again, “Really? We really can?”

“Yeah, just lemme get the car carrier, in case you need it.” Okay, so, Niall explained this part already. Harry has turned out to be terrified of cars after the day the police had raided the breeding house and he’d been forced into a car carrier with very little comfort from anyone around him. Louis doesn’t know all the details because he didn’t want to hear them, but Niall says he’s not going to go in the car willingly, so it’s best to let him sleep through it. 

He puts the kitten inside the carrier gently and makes sure he’s woken up just a little, enough to take in his surroundings, before shutting the cage door, but not latching it. It’s all  _ fantastic _ , Louis thinks, excitedly smiling to himself from the front seat of the car and constantly looking back to check on Harry behind him. Then, about ten minutes away from home, Harry wakes up a little with a whimper, pressing himself into the back of the cage and whining. 

“ _ Lou _ ,” Louis almost can’t hear him over the sound of the car, he’s so quiet, “ _ Loulou _ ?”

“Yeah, kitty? It’s okay, kitten, we’re almost home, I promise. You’ll be okay.” He doesn’t respond, but Louis can tell he’s crying softly from the little sniffles that come from the kennel. It doesn’t stop until the car’s at a complete stop in the driveway and Louis is happily pulling him from the car with a smile. 

“See, kitty, everything’s fine, isn’t it? And we’re home now!” The hybrid is shaking just a little in Louis’ arms, but Louis can tell that the kitten is trying to calm his breathing down, purposively taking deep breaths and still hiding in Louis’ shirt. Louis smiles anyways, petting down the kitten’s back and grabbing the bag Niall had given him from the car. He unlocks the door in front of them and then they’re inside, away from the cold air and enveloped in the warm scent of whatever wickless candle Liam’s almost-girlfriend put on the table, probably vanilla. Harry turns his head so that he faces his neck, cheek resting on his shoulder, and Louis can feel him wiggle his nose. The kitten then moves his hands from where they clutch at Louis’ sweatshirt to wrap them around his shoulders, his heart melts a little and he leans his head over to rest atop Harry’s and hug him a little tighter. The kitty purrs softly in his arms and the shaking, Louis notices, has calmed almost completely.

“You good, kitty?” Harry gives a small nod against his neck. “Do you want to sleep more, baby? We can see the rest of the house later on, how’s that?” Another nod. 

“Okay, we’ll go upstairs first then so you can have a sleep,” he continues petting at Harry’s back as they head upstairs, smiling into his hair. The hall has only Louis’ room, Liam’s, and a guest room his sisters would stay in when they came over. Louis could afford more than this, but he’d always thought the extravagance of it was unnecessary. 

As soon as Louis’ in the room, he turns on the brand new space heater near Harry’s bed and navigates the mess of blankets to find an opening for the kitten to go in. When he settles the numerous blankets and tries to lay Harry down, he won’t let go of Louis’ neck at first, which Louis laughs at and pulls his arms off gently. Harry only mutters something unintelligible and falls back to sleep immediately, nuzzling his face into a pink blanket and clenching his hands in the softness. The sight is so precious, Louis sits there, knelt next to the cat bed, running his hands through Harry’s hair while he purrs in his sleep, for nearly half an hour before he remembers he ought to make Harry something to eat for lunch. Himself, too, but mostly Harry. 

He leaves the bedroom door open a crack so he can hear if Harry meows for him - unlikely, but Louis feels better with it either way - and goes about his usual routine of cleaning things and making food, except this time with a smile that hurts his cheeks. He decides to make them both grilled cheese and while it cooks, he checks on Harry because he can’t help himself. He also takes a picture of him sleeping with his tail wrapped around his wrist and sends it to his mom because he really, really can’t help himself. After getting the picture his mom calls him and finally he’s got someone to talk about Harry with who’s equally as excited about the kitten as he is. His mom knows he’s wanted a hybrid since he was little and he’s finally got a cute, sweet, little one. By the time Louis is off the phone and has a full lunch prepared, it’s been nearly two hours and he’s only checked on Harry maybe twice - okay, four times, but who’s counting? 

Then, he gets up to his room, smiling because he’s prepared to feed Harry and show him the house that is  _ his  _ now, and the kitten isn’t in his bed anymore. For a moment, he’s a little scared that he’s just gone off somewhere, until he sees him curled in a ball up against the wall just a foot away from his bed. He’s facing the wall, his forehead pressed against it and his arms tucked inside of his sweatshirt to keep himself warm probably because, this way, he’s out of the direct line of heat being blown by the space heater in the corner. Louis can’t remember the last time he came up to check on him, maybe twenty minutes ago? It doesn’t make sense why he’d have gotten out of bed, regardless of when he might’ve done so. So, gently, he wakes him up with a light hand on his shoulder, muttering his name and petting at his hair. Harry opens his pretty green eyes and looks up at him with worried eyes. He sits up and presses himself against the wall, like he’s trying to make himself small. 

“Harry kitty? Why’d you get out of the bed? Are you okay?”

Harry nods and whispers, “Sorry.”

“Come here, kitten, come sit in my lap.” Harry obliges, relaxing quite a lot at the familiar request.

“What are you sorry for, baby kitty?”

Harry whimpers, “Sorry, sorry - was in bed. Sorry.”

“What? Why - sorry you were in the bed, why?”

Harry looks up at him with teary, confused eyes. “Not supposed to be in bed,” he whimpers. Angrily, Louis thinks, this is one of those leftovers from how neglected he used to be. He pets at Harry wherever he can, as calmly as he can, to try and comfort him, to make sure he knows he’s okay here. 

“You’re not supposed to be in the bed? Why not, kitty?”

“Not for kitty,” he cuts off, pauses, looking warily up at Louis, “ _ bad kitty _ ,” he whispers. 

“No, no, you’re a good kitty, Harry. You’re a very, very good kitty. I just want to understand why you think you aren’t allowed in the bed. Did the bad people at -” he’s about to say  _ your last house _ , but he doesn’t ever want to insinuate that that place was anything remotely close to a  _ home _ so he refrains, “the last place you lived tell you that?”

Harry nods, tucking into Louis’ chest the way he does when he’s hiding from something or  _ someone _ , “Not for bad kitty.”

“What makes you think you’re a bad kitty?”

“Always bad kitty,” he says, extra quiet, “Said so.”

“ _ No _ ,  _ no _ , Harry, no. You’re a good kitty, you’re always, always a good kitty. You’re never, ever a bad kitty. ‘M so sorry anyone told you that, sweetheart, you’re so good. I’m sorry.” Louis kisses his head and rubs his hands over Harry’s arms that are tucked underneath his own chin where he’s curled in on himself in Louis’ lap. He still doesn’t fully understand. All he knows is Harry’s been told he’s not allowed to sleep in beds because he’s bad. That’s all Louis wants to know, really. He doesn't think he could handle any more. 

“Kitty, look at me,” he picks up Harry and sets him down right in front of him so they can make direct eye contact, “ _ of course _ , you’re allowed in the bed. It’s more than okay, you’re allowed to sleep in there if you want to. It’s your bed, just for you. No one else’s.” Harry looks awed as he stares over at the heap of pink and white blankets and the stuffies haphazardly cluttering it now that Harry’s slept in it. He looks between Louis and the bed, not speaking for a while, until he whispers, “Blankies, too?” And,  _ oh _ , because Louis was trying to figure out why he wasn’t using his blankets at the kennel and, fuck, Louis’ actually tearing up because -  _ fuck  _ \- he wasn’t allowed to use blankets before.

“Yeah,” his voice cracks, “of course with the blankets. You can have a blanket whenever you want, understand? Anytime you ever, ever want a blanket or something warm, you can have one.” and the kitty paws over to the bed, slowly crawling inside of it and turning around to sit down carefully so as not to disturb the stuffed animals already occupying space there. And, he - his lip starts wobbling as he kneads his hands up and down in the multiple soft blankets. 

“Kitty? What’s wrong?” Louis’ seriously choked up and he’s scared he’ll start crying, too, if he sees this precious kitten crying again. 

“Thank you, Loulou,” he whimpers, “Soft. Thank you.” 

Louis chokes, “Kitty, c’mere, sweetie, you want a pet?” Harry happily curls up in his lap and wipes his tears on Louis’ shirt. Seeing happy tears in Harry’s eyes and knowing he’s the one that put them there make him so happy and so heartbroken at the same time, he doesn’t know what else to do but let a few tears drop where he holds the kitty in a tight hug. 

“I’m so happy you’re here now, kitty. You’re gonna be happy now, too, okay? I promise.” Harry just nods into his chest and hugs back.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry im the WORST this has been FOREVER i just have all these like little scenes planned out and all written up and everything but then the connecting bits are so boring to me that i dont want to do them but i also like. want to do them . so here's this its been several thousand years hope u will forgive me

The rest of the day is one long learning experience for the both of them. Most of it, Louis loves. He loves to be a part of the experience for Harry, he loves that he gets to be the one putting a smile on Harry’s face.

The highlights begin with lunch. He brings Harry downstairs for lunch, the kitten’s legs wrapped around his waist and his head resting in the juncture of Louis’ neck and shoulder, a place he seems to quite like, and sets him down in a chair at the island. The hybrid immediately brings up his knees to his chest and lets his tail fall through the slats on the chair’s back. He’s never had a grilled cheese before, so he isn’t sure he’ll like the taste. He’s also never had a sandwich before, so he isn’t sure how to eat it. He stares at his plate for a minute while Louis goes around the kitchen collecting things and he studies the different items on his plate by picking them up and looking closely at them, turning them over in his hands before setting food down and picking up something else.

“Have you ever had any of that before, kitty? Those are grapes, I’m sure you’ll like them.” Harry shakes his head, still holding a green grape delicately between the tips of his fingers. Louis picks up one of his own grapes, standing off to the side of the island beside Harry’s chair, and plops it in his own mouth.  

“Go ahead, kitty,” he says, watching him. Harry repeats his actions, grinning at the flavor when he finally gets his teeth into it to chew. Louis smiles brightly back at him because he thinks he may have seen the traces of a dimple on his face.

“Those ones,” Louis continues, picking up a slice of a strawberry off Harry’s plate, “are strawberries. You wanna try it?”

Harry nods, reasoning, “Pink,” succinctly. He grins while he takes the fruit gently from Louis’ hand and plops it in his mouth. Louis gets an entire smile now for his efforts, including the cutest dimple he’s ever seen.

“Good, kitty?” Harry nods, smiling and putting another strawberry in his mouth. Louis just stands back and eats his own sandwich while he watches Harry neatly eat all of his fruit, picking his grilled cheese up last. He holds it in front of himself studiously for a moment before looking at Louis to gauge how he’s supposed to eat it. Louis’ plate, however, has been cleared away already; he’d finished his own in the time it took for Harry to finish his fruit.

“You just bite into, kitty,” Louis says after Harry looks up to him expectantly. Harry takes a slow bite of the sandwich, but then pauses with it between his teeth. Louis smiles, laughing a bit, “Now you just pull it away with your mouth, like tear it off.” Harry does so. Since he’s never had a grilled cheese, he doesn’t even know that Louis’ used too much butter or that they’ve gone a bit cold from sitting on the counter too long. He smiles when he eats it anyways, says thank you quietly every so often. Louis responds by petting his hair each time and telling him he doesn’t have to say thank you.

 When Harry’s halfway through his sandwich – he’s switched from taking bites to tearing little pieces of the sandwich off and placing them in his mouth – Louis can’t help but ask him, “What did you used to eat before, kitten?”

Harry swallows his bite and responds, “Kitty food,” before taking another bite.

“What kind of kitty food? Just fish?”

“Sometimes,” Harry whispers, taking a small bite of his grilled cheese and looking down away from Louis, suddenly a little sadder than he’d just been. Louis doesn’t press any longer. Eventually, Harry puts down the last few bites of his sandwich in favor of licking the butter and crumbs from his fingers and claws with his little, pink, sand-papery tongue, which Louis laughs at and tells him, “No, no, kitty, don’t lick your hands,” while wiping him off with a napkin. Harry smiles while Louis does it, then takes the napkin and does it again, himself, including wiping off his mouth until he’s sure there’s no more crumbs left around his lips.

Louis takes Harry’s plate to the sink and washes it quickly. When he turns around, Harry is watching Louis expectantly, tail flicking against his knee lightly.

“Do you want something to drink, kitty?” Harry blinks, ears twitching, and nods after a moment.

“Do you wanna try using a glass?” Harry shakes his head immediately, expression shifting to something more worried and ears flattening, disappearing into his curls. His eyes dart quickly around the room, like he’s looking for people where there aren’t any, again. Louis doesn’t hesitate to lean closer to where Harry sits and pet behind his ears to comfort him. This is one of the parts that Louis doesn’t love so much.

“S’okay, honey, can you tell me why not?”

“Spill,” he says quietly.

“Why’re you scared to spill? Because you don’t like being wet or something else?” He hesitates for a second but answers affirmatively with a nod, leaning up into Louis’ hand unconsciously.

“It’s okay for right now, kitty. Let me go get one of those bottles Niall gave me and you can have that, alright?” A small nod. “Okay, one second, kitty.” Louis finds the bag by the front door and pulls out two bottles, unused and still in plastic packaging. Once he’s washed one in the sink, he opens the fridge and asks Harry what he’d like – juice, milk, or water. But, then, Louis realizes he may have never had juice before and Harry confirms that it’s true. He fills the bottle up with orange juice and smiles to Harry as he picks him up, handing over the bottle to the kitten so that he can carry him against his hip with both arms. He sets Harry down on the couch and finds the remote. While Netflix loads, he sits down next to Harry and no more than a second passes before Harry’s in his lap, curling up underneath his chin and resting against his chest. Louis smiles down at him fondly, picking something from his continue watching that he’s sure won’t bother Harry, while he starts stroking absently at Harry’s soft curls.

Harry hasn’t taken a drink of his juice yet, so Louis asks, “You okay, kitten? Try the juice,” he urges.

He opens his mouth like he’s about to speak, looking between the bottle in his hands and Louis, but closes it in favor of holding the bottle up to Louis, gesturing for it to be taken. Louis knows good and well he should not give into this. Some part of him just starts thinking about how difficult it’ll be when he gets around to getting Harry into therapy and he has to start forcing Harry to do uncomfortable things so that he can be independent or whatever. But, then again, there’s another much bigger part of him that isn’t capable of saying no when the kitten is looking at him with those pretty green eyes. That same part of him says that is a problem for future Louis to deal with and takes the bottle, melting at the dimple that forms when Harry nuzzles into Louis’ chest, tucking his freed hands underneath his own chin.

He lets Harry drink and he can’t help staring at the cute kitty in his lap. When he takes one of his new blankets off the back of the couch to wrap around Harry’s shoulders the kitten smiles and starts purring softly, eyes half shut. He falls asleep, with more than half the bottle left, the quiet noise of him drinking silences and he looks down at Harry’s lax expression fondly. He looks so cute when he sleeps that Louis’ chest hurts to watch him.

Eventually, Louis realizes it’s getting later and he has to actually get work done at some point – he can’t just stop doing his job because Harry is so fucking cute that he doesn’t want to stop staring at him. So, he gently maneuvers himself out from underneath Harry, tucking a pillow underneath his head and making sure the large blanket is covering Harry’s toes, and he only receives a short whine in protest before Harry settles again and starts snoring softly. Louis lets himself pet his hair once more before moving to his office to retrieve his laptop.

He sets himself up at a desk in the living room he’s never used before, just to be nearer to Harry, and goes about getting some work done. For a few hours, he manages well enough, only getting up to pet Harry a few times under the guise of going to the bathroom or refilling his water.

.

When Harry wakes up, he’s warm and comfortable, so he stays in the same spot for a while, lazing between sleep and awake. He smiles and nuzzles into the blanket clutched in his hands, reveling in the feeling. He tries to mentally catalogue every sensation, especially the unfamiliar ones, like how warm his toes are or how soft the blanket feels as he pulls more of it up to his chin, clenched in his fists. He’s never felt such a soft blanket before, never had so many blankets, let alone ones that are all his own and he doesn’t have to share. Smiling softly, he nuzzles into the blanket. He really is so happy he has Louis, now. Louis’ so nice to him that Harry can’t believe it. So far, Louis has given him blankets, fish, strawberries, pets, and stuffed animals and it’s only been a week since they met. Harry really likes Louis and he just hopes that Louis will never, ever leave him. He wants Louis right now, actually, just all of a sudden.

He sits up suddenly and groggily, rubbing his eyes and twitching his ears to make sure Louis is still here, somewhere close by. He hears tapping just behind him and turns to find Louis at a computer, hunched over a desk. Harry gathers up the blankets around him, pulling one that feels heavier than all the rest up with him as he stands from the couch. He curls the blanket around himself, bunching it up around his neck and pulling it over the top of his head so that the bottom doesn’t drag so much behind him, then pads over softly to the desk.

Louis sees him out of the corner of his eye and immediately stops what he’s doing. He turns to Harry in his chair, all bundled up in a white blanket, ears just barely peeking out from where the blanket presses them down.

“Hey, kitty,” he says, motioning for him to come closer, “Your nap good?” Harry nods, climbing into Louis’ lap and resting against his chest.

“Do you want to watch a movie while I finish this? Then we can find something fun to do.” Harry doesn’t answer. He wants to just stay right here and be pet. Why can’t he do that?

“Stay?” He whispers hopefully, looking up to Louis with wide eyes and a bit of fear coming from absolutely nowhere that tells him he shouldn’t have said anything when Louis doesn’t say ‘yes, of course’ immediately. Louis, in lieu of speaking, reaches for his phone off the desk and holds it up for Harry. Harry reaches a hand out of his blanket and takes it, looking confused and waiting for an answer.

“Here,” Louis unlocks the phone and swipes the screen around while Harry watches raptly, navigating to a screen titled “games”. He tells Harry, “you can play any of these. I have to finish writing but you can stay right here and play ‘til I’m done, alright?” Harry dimples up at him and nods. For nearly another two hours, Louis’ typing, the clicking of Harry’s nails against the screen, and purring are the only sounds in the house. 

Liam comes home at 4:30, half an hour earlier than usual. As much as he pokes fun at Louis for becoming so soft, Liam himself has been softer than Louis for ages, especially with hybrids – cute ones with sweet faces, at least, like Harry – so nothing could convince Louis that he’d come home early for anything other than to see Harry sooner.

When Liam opens the front door and calls out to Louis, Louis checks the time and smirks to himself, turning around in his chair to look at Liam smugly. Unfortunately, as amusing as Louis found the situation, it made Harry tense up in his lap, his breathing catching and his purrs stopping abruptly. Louis forgets Liam instantly and looks down at Harry, petting his back and hair and whispering to him, “You’re okay, kitten, it’s just Liam.” Harry only nods and nuzzles into him but his purring does not pick back up and he curls in on himself in a way that makes Louis’ chest hurt.

He looks up at Liam with his brows furrowed a bit angrily, “Quit yelling, Li, you scared him.”

Setting his things down on the floor, Liam says, “Oh, _oh_ , I’m sorry, Harry. I forgot – I’ll not do that again. Sorry, Hazzy.” Harry spares his first glance at Liam and mumbles, “’S okay, Li.”

“I’ll go do dinner, then,” Liam says, shuffling into the kitchen, face betraying him that he obviously feels a bit bad.

“You okay, sweetheart?” Harry nods. “Sorry, kitty. We’ll try really hard not to be so loud around you, okay?” Harry nods again. Louis doesn’t speak again until he scratches at Harry’s scalp and gets a real purr in response. He grins a soft, “There you go, kitty,” and kisses his head where his hair turns into the soft fur on his ears.

“You want to go help Liam with dinner?” Harry doesn’t say no, so Louis picks him up, blanket and all, and takes him into the kitchen, setting him down on an island chair just like earlier. Harry sits the same, with his knees drawn up and his tail flicking up and down where it’s wrapped around his legs.

“Hey, Harry,” Liam smiles softly, “We’ve got salmon for dinner, that okay?” Harry already knows, he can smell it cooking on the stove. He twitches his nose to get more of it and smiles at Liam, nodding politely. Louis helps Liam cook while they talk about people Harry doesn’t know and things he doesn’t understand, Harry just watches, taking in everything that they do and cataloging it under things he should remember. Louis does offer him his phone so that he can play games more, but he doesn’t use it, he’d rather watch them. He’s very confused when they set the table with three plates of something that doesn’t look very much like salmon, he’s used to cans and little shredded pieces of it, not whatever is on the plates. He concludes that that dinner is not for him and that Louis will give him a can of fish just for himself any minute.

Because he wants to be good in case it earns him extra fish, he tells Louis as soon as he’s come close enough that he needs to use the bathroom. Louis carries him over to the restroom, telling him, “Thank you for letting me know, kitty, that’s a good boy. You can go on your own whenever you want, okay? Or you can just tell me or Li, that’s fine.” Harry nods and goes in hesitantly. When Niall told him the same thing, he’d brought him to the bathroom and told him how he ought to do everything, which he was okay with, except that he was supposed to shut the door and that was a problem from the beginning. Niall told him he could leave the door open if he wanted but that he should really close it. Harry didn’t understand _why_ , he doesn’t understand human people and their privacy issues, he only knows he doesn’t want to be shut in the tiny rooms alone. They’d negotiated a deal where Harry keeps the door cracked, but mostly closed, and he’s been mostly satisfied with it, so he does the same now, figuring it’ll all be okay. He needs to make sure, though, so before he leaves the door, he looks up at Louis and makes sure he’ll stay right outside by softly asking, “Stay?”

Louis nods, “of course, kitten, I’ll be right here.” He takes Harry’s blanket off his shoulders at the last minute, telling him he’ll have it right back afterwards.

Harry knows that Niall told him to wash his hands, but Louis doesn’t, so he pops right out of the bathroom after he’s done and tries to walk back to the kitchen. Louis stops him gently before he can get very far, “Hold on, kitty, let’s wash our hands before we eat, okay?”

Harry sighs with a frustrated furrow in his brow, requesting, “No?” innocently.

Louis laughs at him, then shepherds him back into the bathroom. “No, kitty? Why not?” Louis stands just behind him in front of the sink and reaches forward, Harry locked between his arms to turn the faucet on. The sudden sound and gushing water make him flatten his ears to his head.

“What’s wrong, kitty? Is it the water you don’t like?” Louis asks softly, turning the tap down to a more slow stream. Harry only nods.

“What about water don’t you like, kitten?”

Harry thinks for a bit, biting on his claws the way Louis is noticing he does whenever he’s trying to find the way to say something, then settles on, “Cold or hot, Lou,” then more quietly, “Hurts.”

“Oh, honey,” Louis coos, “We can make it just the right temperature, okay? You don’t have to be scared of that. Nothing’s gonna hurt you, especially not the water. Okay?” Harry doesn’t engage, so Louis works on turning the taps to a perfect level of cold and warm that seems tolerable.

“Can you test that out, kitty? Just stick one finger in it and you’ll be able to tell how warm it is.” Harry doesn’t, so Louis takes his hand gently and guides his index finger under the tap. When he doesn’t say anything against it, Louis takes his hand and dispenses a bit of foam soap onto his hands – rose vanilla scent or something of the sort – which Harry gasps at audibly. “Bubbly,” he says, rubbing his hands together. Louis washes his own hands quickly as he does so and he watches Harry’s face through the mirror, the way the kitten stares at Louis’ hands apprehensively like he’s waiting for it to hurt, though that, of course, never comes. He still looks very uncomfortable and his body never loses its tension while Louis holds his hands under the water, but he lets it happen without protest.

When he’s done, Louis hands him a towel and he rubs his hands for a while too long. Louis still tells him he’s good and kisses his head before stepping away and leading them toward the kitchen.

Liam has the table set when they come back in, so Louis takes his own chair after directing Harry into his own, between himself and Liam. Liam comes back into the kitchen from the stairs, finishing a phone call with his not-girlfriend. They really, actually go for “no, you hang up,” at least three times before Liam actually says bye and sits down. Louis makes a face at Harry and rolls his eyes, which makes him giggle and his dimples don’t fade even after Liam’s sat down. They start talking again, Louis making fun of Liam for a bit, until they start talking about Liam’s work and Harry doesn’t understand much anymore, so he looks down to his plate. It must be for him, then, which he thinks is very strange, but Louis and Liam are so nice that he just lets it happen, not thinking much of it.

It doesn’t look much like salmon, but it smells just like it – better, even. There’s these other bits on the plate too, though, green and yellow and white. He doesn’t know what they are, so he pushes them away from the salmon until he knows how to eat it. Fish, though, Harry knows. He realizes, after flipping the salmon over, that it _is_ salmon like from his cans, but one big piece of it. He grins to himself proudly, because he definitely knows how to eat this. He sticks his claws in immediately and starts to rip pieces off, putting the first in his mouth and chewing slowly as he continues.

“Harry, kitty,” Louis starts, suddenly breaking Harry out of his distraction. He’s smiling softly and standing up, walking around to Harry. “Do you want me to cut it up for you so you don’t have to use your hands?” Harry only shrugs, doesn’t understand why he shouldn’t, but he lets Louis do what he wants. He cuts pieces of the fish with the knife next to Harry’s plate and the fork. When he’s done, he holds out the fork for Harry to take and he does so hesitantly, blinking at it in his hand.

“Harry, have you used one before?” Liam asks softly. Harry shakes his head, puts it in his other hand to match how Liam holds his. Louis sits back down and watches him.

“Yeah, good,” Liam continues, “like that, then you just stab the pieces. Then, you put the food in mouth and grab it with your teeth, but pull the fork away.” Harry does so, getting another piece of fish. It seems a bit excessive when he has claws and fingers instead, but he obeys because he wants to be good.

“Kitty,” Louis asks, Harry looks up away from his plate when he doesn’t continue and Louis looks a bit sad for some reason. “You’re cute,” he says after a while. He dimples and goes back to eating his fish. Liam gets Louis talking again and Harry zones out, only paying attention to the way they speak to each other and how they eat their food. When he’s done with his fish, Louis and Liam are almost entirely finished with their food.

“Lou?” he whispers when there’s a quiet moment between the two. Louis looks at him, smiling softly like usual.

“Yeah, kitty?”

He goes to pick up one of the green foods, a stick like thing, with his hand before remembering he shouldn’t, then stabs his fork into one and holds it up to Louis, hoping his question is conveyed.

“You just bite the end off of it, honey.”

Harry shakes his head, “W- what is it?”

“Oh, asparagus. It’s a vegetable and that’s _gross_ –,” Louis fake gags before being cut off.

“Louis, _don’t_ teach him that,” Liam snips, he turns to Harry and more gently says, “Go on and try it, they’re _good_.” Harry doesn’t look very sure of either option but nibbles the end off of his current piece and tastes it carefully.

“How’s it?” Liam asks. Harry smiles a bit and nods; they aren’t very gross at all, he thinks.

Louis groans, “Oh, great, Liam, he likes _vegetables_.” Harry immediately turns very worried. “Good,” Liam responds.

“Sorry?” Harry mumbles, setting down his fork and half eaten asparagus on the plate.

“Oh, no, no, kitty, I’m just joking. You’re allowed to like them if you want to,” Louis reasons, when Harry doesn’t look convinced, he pets his head and tacks on, “You’re good, don’t worry.” Harry nods and hesitantly goes back to eating. Liam tells him that the white is mashed potatoes and the yellow is lemon, but he doesn’t have to eat those, then they continue talking.

“Harry,” Louis addresses him after a while, he looks up, chewing on his asparagus, “We usually have Niall and our friend Zayn over during the week, are you okay with that?”

“Niall?” He clarifies hopefully.

“Yeah? You want Niall over?” Harry nods, grinning. He’s already so excited to show Niall his bed and his stuffies, he can’t wait for him to come.

“Now?”

“No,” Louis laughs, “Not today. Wednesday since most of us have Thursdays off.” He continues, “Two days from now,” when Harry looks a bit confused. He still grins and nods, “Yeah, love Niall.”

“And Zayn? Are you okay with one new person? He’s very nice.” Harry loses his little smile and instead looks pensive, his face twisted the way it does when he wants to say no to something but isn’t sure he’s allowed to.

“He takes care of a hybrid nursery, if that helps,” Liam add.

“Oh,” Louis exclaims, “Yeah, you remember the babies you played with when you were with Niall? He takes care of lots of baby cats at a nursery.”

He smiles, excitedly asks, “Babies?” He _loves_ babies.

“Yeah, maybe we can ask Zayn if you can visit sometime.” Harry nods happily.

He’s slowed down eating even more so, not wanting any more but also not wanting to waste any of it. They notice, though, and Liam asks, “You done, Harry? We can save it for you for later, if you wanted. You don’t have to finish.” Harry doesn’t answer, worried unreasonably that he’s not telling the truth and he won’t get the food later. This may be his only chance to eat for he doesn’t know how long, he should really finish.

However, Louis always seems to know just what Harry needs to hear, like he _knows_ what Harry’s thinking, “Harry, I promise that whenever you’re hungry you can have it, or you can have some fish. We’ll always give you food whenever you want it. Okay?”

Harry nods slowly, because he thinks that’s what Louis wants to hear and he never wants to upset him. Louis grins at him, “Good boy, kitty. Whenever you’re hungry, okay? You can have it right back.” He nods again and Louis walks away with his food, placing it in a plastic bowl and putting it inside the fridge.

 

Liam asks Harry what he did all day after he came home – which Louis melts at _home_ – and Harry says he’s napped and played games, which he smiles at, having liked it. Liam says, then, “Well, we ought to show you real video games, then, shouldn’t we?” So they end up in the living room on the couch, Harry between Louis and Liam, but pressed more into Louis’ side, holding a controller in his hands and tongue out on his lip in concentration. They’ve chosen something docile – Mario Kart – and, much to Liam’s amusement, he’s better than Louis by their third race. He smiles the entire time, dimples deep and ears twitching, nodding affirmatively when Louis asks him if he likes the game (he knows the answer, only asks because he wants to see the way Harry smiles at him). He’s very pleased with himself, but it’s only because Liam keeps telling him he’s good every time he finds new ways of knocking Louis off the track.

Liam stops their fun when he gets a call from his not-girlfriend and goes upstairs with it. Harry wants to start another game, but Louis thinks it’s as good a time as any to talk to Harry about a bath.

“Here, kitty, let’s go upstairs a second and we can play another game if you want when Liam’s back down. Alright?” He looks confused, like usual, but just nods his assent and sets the controller down on the table. Louis shows him how to turn off the system and plug the remotes in to charge, then herds him upstairs into his room and to the bathroom.

Harry stops at the door and stands there, watching Louis move around the bathroom and his room. He gathers up a sweatshirt that’s going to be too big on him, some sweatpants that will inevitably puddle on the ground, and a new pair of hybrid boxers. Harry realizes what’s going on when Louis pulls a pink towel out of the bathroom closet and sets it on the counter next to the clothes. He flattens his ears to his head, wraps his tail and arms around his body like he’s trying to comfort himself, and his eyes well up with tears.

“Hey, what’s the matter?” Louis pets his hair and lifts him up, setting him down on the countertop so that they’re at eye level. 

“Don’t like shower, Loulou,” he whimpers softly, petting the end of his tail anxiously.

Louis smiles at him, “Don’t worry, honey, no showers. Not right now.” Harry looks to him eagerly. “Have you ever had a bath before?” Harry shakes his head.

“Well, they’re very warm and they feel really nice. Are you scared of showers because they don’t feel good?”

“Hurts ears and tail,” he says, demonstrating by twitching his little ears and flicking his tail at Louis’ hands which are resting on either side of Harry’s thighs where he sits. Louis laughs, lifting a hadn to pet the soft fur of his tail. “And cold,” Harry adds quietly, “Scary.”

Louis has been thinking about how to help Harry with his fear of water since Niall said something about it this morning. He figured that the most obvious option would be the easiest: to add bubbles. And probably a bath bomb. Louis is used to keeping bubble bath and colored bath bombs around for his siblings - well, they’re for him because they smell nice and make his skin soft but Liam isn’t allowed to know anything about that.

“Well, kitty, I’m gonna make sure your bath is very warm and doesn’t hurt your tail or ears at all. And,” he exaggerates, “I’m gonna make the water pink.” Harry’s mouth falls open a little and his eyebrows furrow, makes a face like he doesn’t believe Louis can do such a thing.

“C’mere, kitten, let’s get the tub filled up and you can test the water to make sure it’s the right temperature, okay?” Harry nods. He helps Harry down and starts the water in the tub. The kitten flinches when the water starts pouring out loudly, ears flattening again, and he presses close behind Louis. He doesn’t shy away when Louis guides him right to the edge of the tub. The water fills up with Harry knelt down beside Louis, anxiously watching the water fall heavily from the faucet with his hand wrapped around Louis’ bicep.

“Here,” Louis says, handing an unwrapped bath bomb to Harry, the kitten holds it delicately with two hands, feeling the texture of it and tapping his claws on it to test it’s integrity. He sniffs it closely, it smells sweet like fruit.

“Think it’s supposed to be orange,” Louis informs him, sniffing it himself, “Yeah, citrus. Here, you just drop it in right underneath the faucet, okay?” Harry hesitantly does so, looking at Louis for any sign that he’s doing it wrong. As soon as Harry can see the water turning pink, he gasps quietly and his mouth falls open a little. His hands come up to the side of the tub, wrapping his fingers around the edge like he wants to touch. Louis smiles to himself at the awed look in Harry’s eyes, the way his fingers twitch to reach into the pink water. He laughs a bit, swishing the bomb around in the tub and waiting for the bomb to disappear. The water is a baby pink, glistening with golden glitter.

“Do you want to put your hand in and check the temperature, kitty?” He reaches his own hand in and swirls around the pink water, “Like this?” Very slowly, hesitantly, Harry replicates his action, carefully slipping just his fingertips into the water and then his whole hand. He splashes the water around for a second, then whimpers, “Out?” quietly.

“Yeah, kitty, you can take your hand out,” Louis sighs.

He pulls his hand out, looking at Louis and holding his hand up away from the rest of his body uncomfortably. Louis wipes his hand off with a bath sheet, one of those expensive, extra plush ones he recently purchased in pink just because he wanted to and not because of Harry.

“Do you want it hotter or colder, kitty?” Louis asks, petting his hair. Harry sticks the rest of his hand into the shallow water, flattening his hand on the bottom of the tub. He pulls it out after a second or two.

“Hot, Lou.”

“You want it hotter or it is too hot?”

“Too hot. Colder.”

“No problem, baby. Now, you want to add bubbles?” Harry nods quickly. Louis opens the cap of the bottle and hands it over, telling Harry to turn it over and dump some underneath the faucet just like the bomb, telling him when to stop. He’s equally as awed by the bubbles, especially when Louis takes a handful and blows them int the air.

“Do you want to get in?” The kitten bites his lip and clenches a little harder at Louis’ arm. He looks up at Louis with watery eyes and shrugs.

“It’s okay, kitty, I promise it won’t hurt you. It’s warm and I’ll wash your hair so you don’t get any water in your little ears,” he says, petting the top of Harry’s head between his ears. He still hesitates.

“What’s scaring you, baby?”

He breathes in shakily, “Hurt?”

“Why do you think it’s going to hurt?”

“Always hurts.” Louis can barely hear him over the sound of the faucet running and the bath is nearly full, so he turns it off. Harry relaxes slightly at that.

“Kitty, look at me,” he does, “I promise I won’t ever hurt you, ever. You trust me?” Harry nods immediately in response, but doesn’t look any less tense. Once he’s stood Harry up and gotten his clothes off, thrown into the laundry bin, he sits Harry down by the tub and tells him, “Go ahead, honey, it’s not going to hurt you. Just stick your feet in, first, if you want.” Harry thinks on it for a while, just sitting there and debating between whether or not he should do it. He bites at his claw and looks at Louis, worried. “It’s all pink and you can play in the bubbles once you’re in, yeah?” Louis encourages.

Biting his claw, he nods, whispering, “okay,” determinately, over and over as he kneels forward and crawls into the tub on his knees. Louis laughs a little at the way he crawls over the side of the tub and makes water splash all over the floor the way he sticks his bum out of the water to make sure his tail won’t get wet.  He figures out that the water is just low enough to leave his hips out of the water and he kneels in the tub, refraining from sticking his tail underneath, despite that the rest of him is mostly wet, now.

“How’s it feel, kitty? Are you scared about your tail?”

He wraps his tail around his waist and fingers the end of it, burshing the soft hair there on his palms. He nods, staring at the bubbles popping on his arms and clinging to his thighs.

“You can put your tail under, okay? Don’t worry, it’ll be just fine - and you can get out whenever you want, okay? If the water is uncomfortable we can get out and try some other time, alright, kitten?” Harry nods. He sits slowly, watching his tail as if almost imperceptibly slips underneath the water, and pulls his knees up to his chest as he does so.

“Good boy, kitty, that’s so good, baby. Is your tail alright? We can make the water warmer, if you want to, kitten.” Harry nods, but keeps looking at the bubbles where his tail has made an indent.

“Hey, kitty, look,” Louis takes a palm full of bubbles and when Harry looks at him, blows them at his face. Harry giggles, really fucking giggles and Louis has never heard a prettier sound. After that, Harry seems to have forgotten his tail. He plays with the bubbles and sticks them on his own face, Louis’ face, splashes them around until they’re almost gone and the milky pink water has reappeared. The whole time, Louis smiles as widely as possible, watching Harry be comfortable again. He wants Harry like this all the time, laughing and playing and grinning up at Louis. He deserves to be this happy all the time, Louis thinks.

“Kitty? Can I wash your hair?”

Immediately, his ears flatten. He looks at Louis with pink water cupped in his hands and lets the warmth spill between his fingers before he answers, “Ears?”

“I’ll make sure your ears are perfectly fine. I’m gonna use this cup here so none of the water gets inside them, okay?”

He breathes out, “Okay.”

“Good boy, kitty. Come turn around here and I’ll go quick.” The cup that he keeps next to the baby no tears shampoo in his cabinet has been set on the ledge of the tub so Louis can use it on Harry. He pours warm, pink water over Harry’s hair as carefully as possible and applies the shampoo gently, as well, until he finds out that Harry really likes getting his hair washed if it means getting his scalp massaged for a while. He starts purring as soon as Louis’ nails are scratching over his hair and when Louis tries to stop and wash the soap out, he whines. Louis laughs and massages the shampoo into his curls for a few minutes longer, until he thinks he ought to get out soon before his fingers prune up. He washes out Harry’s hair just as carefully as before and when Harry turns around he has a happy, relaxed look on his face.

Louis notices his claws are softened from the water and he asks Harry if it’s okay if he files them down a bit, so that they don’t cut him so much – he has a few scratches across his palms that have been worrying Louis since they met. Harry says it’s okay, as long as it doesn’t hurt, and Louis promises that, of course, it won’t. After, Harry runs his newly blunt nails over his knees for a few minutes, then looks up to Louis and whispers, “Thank you, Loulou,” with such sincerity that it makes Louis melt a bit.

“That wasn’t so bad, was it, kitten?” He shakes his head.

He hands Harry a washcloth with watermelon scented soap on it and shows him how to clean himself, then stands to retrieve his towel. He has Harry stand up before he wraps the pink bath sheet around his shoulders, patting down his hair quickly. The kitten instinctively grabs the edges of the towel with his hands and pulls them together so that the towel stays closed around his shoulders. As Louis pats his hair down, he purrs gently.

“‘Kay, come get into your clothes, kitty,” he says, holding out the boxers for Harry to step into, the towel still around his head and shoulders.

“Like the bath, Loulou,” he whispers. When his dimples pop up, Louis smiles, too.

“Wet?” He asks, pulling at his damp curls. He whines sadly at the pieces sticking to his face and the matted fur of his tail.

“Yeah, that happens when you take a bath. It’ll dry soon, I promise. If you don’t like it we can use the hair dryer next time, but it’s a little noisy.” He would’ve tried it already if he didn’t think that the loud noise would scare Harry. The kitten seems to think it would scare him, too, though and shakes his head.

He gets him dressed in the sweats, then takes him downstairs again, carrying Harry down into the kitchen. Liam is there already, pulling things out of the fridge and freezer.

“How’d you like your bath, kitty?” Liam asks, feeling where Harry’s curls are only damp at the nape of his neck.

Harry whines sadly, touching his ears with his tail. He sighs, “wet.”

Liam chuckles and tells him, “Yeah, baths do tend to be wet.”

“Loulou made it pink – and bubbles,” he continues, smiling.

“Is pink your favorite color?”

Harry nods happily, “Pretty.”

Louis pulls a big carton of something pink out of the freezer and sets it in front of Harry, strawberries from the fridge, too, plenty enough to distract him from Liam. “You ever had ice cream, Harry?” He shakes his head dazedly.

“This kind here is strawberry ice cream, figured you’d like it since it’s pink, right? And then we can cut these strawberries up and put them inside. What d’you think, baby?” Harry nods quickly, not taking his eyes off the ice cream, licking his lips, too.

“Please,” he whispers.

“Good manners, kitty. I’ll get you a bowl.”

They all sit in the living room again, Harry wrapped up in a blanket this time, sitting as close to Louis as possible, with his bowl of ice cream in his lap. Louis changes the Netflix to Finding Nemo and instantly, Harry lights up, exclaims, “Fishies, Lou!”

“Yeah,” Louis laughs, “I thought you’d like this.”

They hadn’t given him much ice cream, but he still only finishes it about twenty minutes into the movie, after most of it’s soupy and warm anyways. He gently pushes the bowl into Louis’ hands and he takes it, pausing the film while he goes to wash all their bowls.

“Do you want a drink, kitty? I can get you water, juice or milk?”

“Milk, please, Loulou,” he whispers, sinking into his blanket blissfully. When Louis comes back with his bottle, he crawls right into his lap with his blanket wrapped around himself and purrs contentedly.

“Did you like your ice cream, kitten?” Liam ask, turning on the couch to settle in better now that Harry’s moved into Louis’ lap. Harry nods, smiling softly.

“Was it better than the fish?”

“No,” Harry shakes his head seriously. “Fishy,” he sighs, a bit dreamily.

Louis restarts the movie with Harry turned a bit more forward in his lap so that he can see the screen, feeding himself the bottle a bit more than he had earlier. When he’s done, Louis notices and takes the bottle away. Harry drops sleepily back into Louis’ lap. It’s not very late, but Harry’s had a long day and hybrid cats always do sleep quite a lot, so Louis pets his hair and adjusts him so he’s lying down more, blanket tucked into his hands and up around his neck.

While Harry’s slowly falling asleep, he nuzzles into Louis’ chest and sighs contentedly. He thinks to himself, licking his lips, that he loves ice cream, he loves strawberries, he loves his soft blanket, he loves Liam, and he loves Louis. He thinks today’s been a good day, probably the best day he’s ever had. He whispers sleepily and slow, “Good,” into Louis’ shirt.

“What’s good, kitty?” Louis asks just as quiet.

He takes a long time to pick his word, so long that Louis thinks he may have fallen asleep, but then he says, “Home,” in a pleased sigh and Louis tears up at how happy he is, how much his heart swells. Liam isn’t far off, but he still mocks Louis for it.

Later, when Harry’s tucked into his little cat bed, surrounded by his stuffies – all lined up around the edge of the bed neatly, except for one, a pink kitty with extra soft fur, that’s tucked underneath his arms – he whispers again to Louis as he’s snuggled under his blanket, “Love you, Loulou,” and “Thank you.”

“Love you, too, kitty,” he presses a kiss to his forehead and pets his hair slow and soft until he falls asleep, purring loudly.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im gonna give this a read-over to make sure its not disorganized bc i did move some paragraphs around n shit so if some part doesnt make sense uh check back later 
> 
> also thank u all for ur comments i appreciate them a lot i hope u like this one its kind of slow because its really self indulgent like i just like imagining baby harry's clothes n all the cuddles he has so if its boring,,, id say sorry except im not

Harry wakes up in the middle of the night unable to breathe.

He doesn’t know what happened, he doesn’t remember his dream. He only knows that he was scared awake and now he can’t breathe. He tries to suck in a breath even though he knows it won’t be satisfying. His chest hurts and his eyes start filling up. He wants Louis, but he can’t wake him up, he doesn’t want to bother him.

Louis had given Harry a pink toothbrush and rainbow flavored toothpaste, whatever that meant. He’s unused to doing it, but Niall taught him how and he was very excited to show Louis. He put Harry back to bed after they were done – Harry had gone to the bathroom and gotten a nappy on, he’d also taken off the sweatpants that were too big on him and replaced his sweater for a large t-shirt of Louis’ – and Louis made him promise that he’d go to the bathroom if he needed or that he’d wake Louis up, assuring him that he’d never get in trouble for anything. He said to wake him up if he needed anything at all, but for some reason Harry can’t right now.

He stays in his bed, staring up at the dark ceiling and trying to catch his breath. This happens a lot, he’s usually fine, but sometimes he isn’t and that scares him even more than the tightness in his chest. Sometimes when he’s particularly scared, or when he gets stuck in small places, he can’t breathe so bad that it makes his vision go all black and then he wakes up later and doesn’t know how long it’s been. Sometimes he wakes up and he’s still inside somewhere that feels too small and it just happens all over again. He’s so much more scared of that. He tells himself over and over that it’s fine and he’s not in a tiny place and his dream wasn’t real, willing himself to breathe right before he wakes anyone up.

It isn’t that bad this time, fortunately. He doesn’t know how long it takes, but eventually he can breathe again, even if it’s still a bit wheezy and uncomfortable. The discomfort and the overwhelming emotions fill up inside him and tears run down his face, silently, though, like he’s practiced. He remembers his stuffies and he finally dares moving, clutching as many of them to his body as he can, shoving his face into the softness of their fur and his blankets, though not for long because he needs the air so badly. He hugs his stuffies, rubs the pink kitty over his face, but he wants Louis. He wishes he could wake him up.

He knows he’s allowed but he’s _scared_. He can’t. He doesn’t. Instead, he takes the kitty and a blanket, and shuffles over to Louis’ bed. He crawls onto the bed, curling up at the end by his feet so that he can rest his hand on Louis’ ankle just barely, hoping not to wake him up. Or maybe he does hope to wake him. He can’t decide. He’s still shaking, but he clenches his eyes shut and tries to listen for Louis’ heartbeat.

 

Louis wakes up slowly to something weighing on his ankle, then suddenly, when he realizes it’s Harry on his bed. He sits up abruptly enough that it wakes Harry, as well. Harry only whines tiredly and nuzzles into Louis’ calf.

“Harry, love,” he whispers, tiredly reaching out for the kitten, “What’re you doin’ up here, baby?” Harry doesn’t budge at first, not until after Louis’ pet him for a near minute. He opens his eyes, finally, and looks up to Louis in the dark, traces of tears in his eyes and on his face.

“Oh, honey, are you alright? Come here, baby,” he gestures for the kitten to move up the bed into Louis’ lap, the way he likes. Harry’s shaking a bit when he crawls into Louis’ lap and leans against his chest, but Louis’ more concerned by the way he wheezes when he breathes.

“What happened, honey?”

“Bad dream, Loulou,” he mumbles very quietly. He hides his face in Louis’ chest.

“You should’ve woken me up, kitty. It’d be okay if you did.” Harry only nods.

The wheezing continues, so Louis asks, “Can you breathe, sweetheart? Are you alright?” Harry only shrugs, not making eye contact. “No, sweetie,” Louis says softly, “Can you tell me? Can you breathe okay?” Harry shrugs again and then shakes his head a bit, after Louis expectantly waits for him to answer with more.

“Okay, it’s alright, kitty.” Louis pets him, hugging him closer and wondering where you’re supposed to take hybrids to the doctor. He’ll have to ask Niall. One of his sister’s had asthma with allergies when she was little, but Louis doesn’t know enough about it to help Harry now. He reaches for his phone on his side table to research it quickly. It’s mostly to make himself feel better, if not Harry. 

“Did you wake up not breathing, kitty?” Harry nods, trying to take in a bigger breath. The first search result on asthma attacks tells him that it’ll stop after a few hours at most, and he relaxes ever so slightly.

“Worse,” he starts softly, “It – okay, now. Okay.” He sighs deeply, wheezing less and less with every breath.

Louis kisses his head, “Good, kitty. Have you ever had an inhaler, baby?” Harry shakes his head, he doesn’t know what that is, but he’s sure he’s never had one. “I’ll help you get one, then. It’ll help you breathe easier.”

“Scared, Loulou,” he mutters.

“Aw, kitty, yeah, I’m sorry. It is scary, I bet. You’ll be okay, though, honey. You’ll be alright.” Louis pets him gently, cradling him in his lap until they’re both mostly asleep. He only jolts back awake when his head starts to slip from where it’s rested against the headboard. Reluctantly, he shifts Harry to his side, waking him up.

“Come get under the covers, kitty, so you’re warm.” Harry lazily goes underneath them, curling up beside Louis. He grabs the blanket and the stuffed animal from the end of the bed and tucks them both into Harry’s hands before lying down and falling back asleep to the sound of Harry’s gentle purrs.

 

In the morning, Louis learns that Harry is mostly asleep until at least after breakfast, once he’s gotten a nap in. His eyes remain half lidded from his place at the island throughout his pancakes, only opening completely at the excitement of seeing strawberries on his plate and the taste of syrup, new to his tongue. He likes his pancake – he only has one before he’s full – and he tells Louis so sleepily. Then he mumbles, “Thirsty, Lou?” after Louis takes his plate and fork.

“Want juice? You can try apple juice today, if you want.” Harry nods, grinning tiredly, eyes slipping shut. He seems to take after a real cat in his sleeping habits, that he falls asleep the second he’s in Louis’ arms and wakes easily and suddenly when he’s settled in Louis’ lap, bottle in between his lips. He only drinks for a few minutes, a couple good gulps, and he’s asleep again. At least, he’s sleeping the way a cat does – only shutting his eyes and relaxing the way he would if he were really asleep – the only indicator that he’s awake at all being the low purr and periodic sips from his bottle.

Louis stays petting him until Harry gently pushes away the bottle and curls into Louis. He holds him, entertaining himself with his phone until he’s sure he can set Harry down without waking him. He pets his hair and kisses his forehead before sitting down at his desk to work until Harry wakes up.

 

He has a rather short nap, waking up slowly an hour or so later. He crawls into Louis’ lap again, purring and smiling. Louis abandons working immediately, pushing away from his desk. Louis explains, after petting the kitten for a while until he’s woken up completely, that they’re going to go to the mall to get Harry some clothes that fit him and that there will be quite a few people there, but it shouldn’t be too crowded and he shouldn’t be scared.

He’s certainly scared anyway, that’s for sure. He lets Louis dress him in a sweater that hangs to his knees and some joggers that tie up around his waist, then he goes into his cage in the car almost calmly, minus him shaking a bit. Louis hugs him and assures him everything’s fine, that he’ll be okay. He is okay, all the way through the car ride. At the mall, he’s shaking still, just slightly, but he walks along, hiding behind Louis’ back and holding his hand tightly.

They stop at one of the few hybrid-centric stores Louis knows of. He seems to remember it being less _pink_ than it is, but Harry doesn’t seem to mind in the slightest. In fact, he loves everything. He doesn’t let go of Louis’ hand, but he pulls him along to a bin of pastel socks that he sticks his hand in to feel. He looks up at Louis excitedly, dimpling. Louis doesn’t tell him that this store is for girls, mostly, because it doesn’t matter and he wants Harry to be as happy as possible forever. If the color pink makes him happy, so be it.

Harry has a little basket for clothes in his hands and, at first, only follows Louis around closely, longingly staring at clothes on their hangers from a distance. Louis has to guide him through for a while, assuring him that it’s okay to pick what he wants. They stop at the back wall, first, because Louis sees the kind of underwear they need. He grabs a package of black, just like the ones Harry currently wears and sets them in the basket. Harry pulls the underwear right back out and gives it back to Louis, almost delicately, shaking his head.

Louis laughs, “What, kitty? If you want a different kind, you have to pick.” Harry looks hesitant, eyes drifting between Louis’ and the wall of pink and patterned underwear beside him. Chewing on one of his claws, he reaches up for a package of solid pink – just like the black, only prettier – and sets them in the basket thoughtfully. Louis trades the package he put in for another, showing Harry the little _S_ that he’s supposed to look for, to make sure it’s the right size. Harry nods in understanding.

“Go ahead, baby, pick as many as you want.” He ends up being goaded into selecting another five packs – one rainbow striped, two variety packs that include an array of pastel pink and white polka dots, stripes, and other delicate, minimal patterns, one patterned with different kinds of cats, and a larger pack of pastel, lace-trimmed shorts in shades of lavender, blue, mint, and pink. Louis doesn’t want him being made fun of, but he reassures himself that hybrids are a social delicacy and can do _whatever_ they want. Plus, no one would be around to make fun of Harry except for Louis and his friends and they would never hurt baby Harry’s feelings like that.

Once Harry was comfortable with picking things out for himself in the right sizes and all, Louis praises him with a quick pet behind his ears and tells him to find more of whatever he likes. Everything that he picks up, he considers very carefully, setting down his basket to feel it with both hands, feeling it against his cheek, and then holding it up for Louis’ approval which he always receives. He gathers up leggings, both solid and in patterns, that are white or a shade of pastel and very, very soft. He holds up one yellow pair to his face as he walks around, rubbing the ankle of it against his cheek because of how nice it feels. Louis would tell him not to do that with clothes they haven’t bought yet, but it is very cute and the cashiers – two young girls who apparently think Harry’s the cutest thing they’ve ever seen – seem to agree. He tries to get four pairs of the same pink leggings, at first, just gathers as many as his hands can fit and puts them inside his basket, but Louis laughs and tells him he doesn’t need so many, putting back two. The rule, he tells the kitten, is two total, but not two of _everything_ , so he needs to be selective.

Harry discovers a collection of joggers in the same colors and patterns and gets some of those, as well, shoving a grey, pink, and yellow pair in to his full basket. He sets the basket down on the ground to put more in – another pink (Louis doesn’t say anything), a solid white pair, and a white pair with little yellow flowers – and tries weakly to pick it back up afterwards. Louis laughs at him again – he hasn’t stopped smiling since he brought Harry home, he feels like, and his cheeks are starting to hurt with it – and carries the basket for him, setting it down at the registers and getting a new one while Harry watches on.

With a new basket, the kitten gets one more pair of white sweatpants, cutely looking away from Louis as if he’s pretending that he didn’t grab it at all. There are shorts just like the sweatpants sitting on the other side of the display, Harry finds out, and he grabs similar colors in all of those, as well. He particularly enjoys a pair that are striped pink and white and have a little pink ribbon tied at the center of the waistband. He gets two of those, as well. Louis lets him, because he figures Harry will only ever wear these things, anyways, and he’ll need more than one outfit if it’s supposed to last him past Christmas.

Harry goes about picking tops the way he’s been with everything else, feeling it first and waiting for Louis to approve. He’s unimpressed by most of the shirts. It seems that the prettier they are, the more uncomfortable they feel. He pouts very cutely when he picks up a pretty shirt only to find that the embroidery is scratchy or the fabric isn’t soft at all.

He ends up with quite a few basic t shirts in all of his preferred pastel shades, both short and long sleeved, and a few that are cut shorter than normal that will sit right at the waist of his new joggers. There’s only a few patterned tops that meet his requirements, one cream with red hems and the silhouette of a cat on the front, one with tiny embroidered pink and green flowers all over, and another loose fitted long sleeve top with tiny printed strawberries. He then decides on some sweaters that resemble the crew necks Louis lets him wear, except softer and in prettier colors. What he loves in particular are the silk button ups hanging on a display at the front of the store. He runs his fingers through the fabric of them and lets out a little purr at the cool, soft material. He picks up two that are printed with polka dots, one pink and one blue, then three that are patterned with different silhouettes of kittens. He stops to show them to Louis before putting them in his basket, telling him quietly, “It’s kitties, Lou,” excitedly. Louis nods at him and tells him that they’re very pretty and to put them in the basket.

He sets down his basket in front of Louis after he’s given the tops a once-over, struggling to carry the heap of clothes. He smiles up at Louis and declares, “Done, Loulou.”

“You sure? We can always come back if we’ve forgotten anything.” Harry nods. He looks at the bin that’s beside him and considers it for a minute before taking three packs of socks – two are white with little lace around the tops and the last is covered in kittens playing with yarn – and setting them on top of the basket. He nods again.

Louis goes to pay for their two baskets and doesn’t flinch at the price, just in case Harry is watching for any negative reaction. One of the girls leans over the counter to say hello while the other scans the items and Harry hides behind Louis’ back.

“Hi, what’s your name?”

“Harry,” he whispers.

“That’s a very nice name. I’m Ally.”

“Hi,” he smiles back. She seems very nice, but he doesn’t move from his spot. He wants Louis there, just in case.

“Are you shopping for some new outfits, Harry?” He nods silently, “Did you find everything you like?” He nods more aggressively to show how pleased he is. After she’s gotten one bag half full, she offers it to him, “Do you want to carry your clothes or are you going to have your daddy do it?”

Louis absolutely _chokes_. He disguises it for a cough fairly well, but – wow. It’s not abnormal for her to say such a thing. With her working in a hybrid clothing store, and all, she must be very used to hybrids calling their owners “daddy” and the like, because it’s much warmer than “owner” and does accurately describe the relationship for most people. It’s not unusual, but Louis’ still shocked by it, unused to it. Harry doesn’t seem very confused, but Louis can tell that he is, if only in the way that he is usually confused when he hears a new word he doesn’t quite understand. He nods, however, and holds out his hand for the bag. He says, “Thank you,” very sweetly, swinging the pink bag in his hand. The girls coo at him, effectively distracting everyone from his shock. Harry presses back up behind him and Louis pets his ears to praise him for his manners, distractedly trying to remember how to use a card reader.

The thing is, it’s like adopting a child. They’re part cat, but they’re people. Having a hybrid is, certainly, having a pet, but there’s much more to it than that, given that they aren’t actually cats. It’s a delicate balance that Louis isn’t familiar enough with to understand completely. Hybrids are common around where they live, but he still sees them so infrequently and interacts with them so rarely that they still feel so special and mysterious to him. He just doesn’t have a mental hierarchy prepared to include hybrids, to help him decide whether or not Harry’s his child or his pet. Harry feels like his pet, not his child, and he wants it to stay that way, at least right now.

When they leave the store, Louis carries most of the bags, and Harry waves back at the girls calling, “Bye!” more loudly than usual, but still rather quiet.

The only other exclusively hybrid store in the mall is directly across from the one they were just in, so Harry spots it immediately. The colors in the windows are a bit more unimpressive, tilted juts as much towards boyish, muted colors as it is pink, pretty things. Louis only wants to go look and make sure Harry doesn’t want anything from there before they go.

Harry does find the few soft, pretty things in the store and wants to buy them all. He finds a lot of socks with different prints and styles and wants a lot of them, his favorites are the ones patterned with the faces of different cats. He finds them very cute, even if they’re not as soft as the socks from the other store.

There’s also pajama sets next to the socks that look soft and match Harry’s apparent color preferences. Louis picks up the plain pink set and tells Harry to get whichever others he wants. He ends up with a yellow set that has blue trim on the cuffs and a blue one printed with clouds. Both the top and pants of the set are fitted and thick like thermal underwear that Louis thinks he’ll want to wear more often in the coming months when winter comes.

Once they walk out of that store bag in Louis’ hand, he asks, “Do you want some lunch, kitty?” Harry nods, swinging his bag with a soft smile on his face and holding Louis’ hand. “Alright, let’s get McDonalds, but only if you don’t let Liam know, yeah?” Harry doesn’t question it, just nods obediently.

“Thank you, Loulou. Love my clothes,” he whispers, looking at his bag swinging in his hand happily.

“Good, kitty, I’m glad.”

There’s a McDonald’s in the food court of the mall and Louis takes Harry up to the counter, asking him if he recognizes any of the food. He shakes his head no, almost sadly, but Louis pets him quickly, “It’s alright, kitty, that just means we get to try all these new things together, yeah?” Harry nods, grinning.

The sit at the cleanest table they can find with their food. Harry sits besides Louis and eats his chicken nuggets as directed. He does enjoy them, but he thinks the French fries are much better. He’s also trying lemonade for the first time and that is by far his favorite. He finishes his small cup before he even touches his food and, because he isn’t fond of asking for things, just holds the empty cup in his hand, pouting sadly down at it until Louis offers to get him more. Harry ends up eating only two of his chicken nuggets, Louis finishes the rest and lets Harry have the rest of his fries, which he lights up at.

Afterwards, as Louis expected, Harry is very tired. He hasn’t stayed awake for so long in a while, Louis suspects, because his eyes are drifting shut even as they walk out to the car. Harry raises his arms to Louis, asking to be carried, and Louis does so, because he can’t say no to the kitten, especially when he’s so sleepy and cute. Harry holds two bags in his hand and Louis holds the others around his arm, picking Harry up so that he can wrap his legs around Louis’ waist and his arms around his neck. He’s mostly asleep before they even get to the car. He crawls into his cage wordlessly and falls back asleep.

Louis drives across town to the grocery store peacefully. The stopping car wakes Harry and Louis rushes around the side of the car to get him out of his cage.

“Home?” he asks, confused.

Louis pets his hair and holds him so that he doesn’t get upset. “Not yet, kitty, we’ve got to go buy some more fish for you.” Harry nods into Louis’ neck, sighing.

Harry likes sitting inside the cart. He holds onto his strawberries and he sets up the other groceries neatly beside him to pass the time. Louis hands him boxes and bags of things he’s never had before and he organizes them into his pile nicely, listening to the things Louis tells him. He gets to pick the kinds of juice he gets and the kind of cookies Louis buys, which is very exciting. He holds on to his juice and cookies along with the strawberries.

They go down the baby aisle and stop in front of a wall of bottles and sippy cups. There are a few bottles at the bottom that are like Harry’s, a bit large and durable for kittens, but still for kittens tinier than him.

“You want to pick some sippy cups, kitty?” Lou asks casually, like it’s no big deal. Harry stares at the wall anxiously and shakes his head at Louis.

“You sure, baby? I’m not going to make you drink out of them if you really don’t want to, but I’m gonna get some anyway, just in case, so you might as well pick the ones you think are prettiest, right?” Harry doesn’t want the sippy cups. He doesn’t want them, but Louis is going to call him a good boy if he picks some, he’s got that look on his face. He really wants to make Louis happy and Louis said he won’t have to drink out of them, anyway, so he points at the yellow ones with the pink lid. Louis, as expected, smiles at him in the cart and strokes his hair, scratching behind his ears. He says, “Good boy, honey,” while he puts two of the cups in the cart, one that’s yellow with a pink lid and the other, the opposite. Harry purrs at him, but pointedly does not organize the cups into his grocery set up. He leaves them shoved in the corner of the cart behind some cereal so that he doesn’t have to look at them. Even though he does think they’re cute.

Louis says they’re going to go get some better toothpaste for Harry’s sensitive hybrid gums and they set towards the pet aisle. While there, Louis’ looking through toothpastes for the right kind and Harry’s watching another hybrid who’s standing in the same aisle with his owner looking bored. Harry smiles at him and waves until he notices. The boy waves back and makes a face at him, making Harry giggle. His owner pulls him away down another aisle as Louis stands to see.

“What’re you laughing at, kitty? Did you find a friend?”

Harry nods, “Kitty,” twitching his ears. Louis pets behind his ears and takes them down the aisle. It’s a brief exchange, Harry glancing at the toys and then back to Louis, but Louis sees it nonetheless and stops them.

“Do you want one, kitty?” Harry doesn’t answer, but he grins, dimpling.

“Go ahead,” Louis says, “Do you want a stuffie or a toy?” Harry has to consider this decision very carefully and he spends quite a bit of time doing it. From his place in the cart, he feels the toys on the wall and some of the stuffies that he can reach. He touches a rubbery pink and red ball just briefly, but pauses when he hears the tinkle of a bell inside. Instinctively, he looks to Louis to make sure it’s okay. Louis smiles at him and picks up the ball, handing it to him while still inside its package. Harry is very hesitant to have it, but he shakes it twice to hear the bell roll around and it makes him smile.

“I can have it?” he whispers.

“Absolutely, and you can play with it all you want.” Louis pets behind his ears again just because he can and he gets a low purr in response.

Louis’ watching Harry as they go. He’s watching the way he holds the ball delicately in his hands like he might break it, watches how he studies it closely from his spot underneath the fruit. He also watches the way he clenches up all of a sudden, hugging the ball to his chest tightly and eyes snapping up to Louis, full of anxiety and the beginnings of tears. Louis stops abruptly, “What? What – kitty, are you okay?” He sniffs hard, breathing heavy, looking all around. His hands that clench the ball are shaking.

Louis starts again, “Kitty-,” but stops himself. He figures he should get them both out to the car before Harry has a panic attack in the middle of the grocery store, which is much more important than Louis knowing _why_ immediately. He pets behind Harry’s ear with one hand and pushes the cart with the other, moving to a self-checkout lane that he has far too many items for because he thinks it will be faster.

“It’s okay, Harry, we’ll be out in just a minute, you’re a good boy,” he reassures while he scans their things through the register. He doesn’t want to take Harry’s ball, so he pushes the cart over and tells him to scan it through, he does so shakily and only with Louis’ own hand guiding his. He still gets praised – “Good boy, kitty, thank you,” with a kiss to his head – before Louis starts filling the cart back up with bags.

They’re back out in record time. Harry’s been silently crying since he scanned the grapes, looking miserable and tired. As soon as the last bag is in the car, Louis picks Harry up. He practically launches himself into Louis’ arms, breathing heavily again like he’s going to start crying harder. Normally, Louis’ a good person and he would put his cart back where it belongs, but this time, he only kicks it out of the way of his car and gets into the backseat with Harry in his arms.

“Kitten, kitten,” He mutters, petting Harry in an attempt to calm him down. “Will you please tell me what’s the matter so I can help, kitty?”

“Don’t -,” he chokes, “Don’t want – the – the kitty food.”

“What kitty food? Fish?”

“No – love fishies,” he cries, wetting Louis’ shirt, “kitty food in the bags,” he gets out between deep breaths. Louis doesn’t understand right now, can’t focus on anything other than petting Harry.

“It’s okay, sweetie, I don’t understand, but I promise I’ll never do anything you don’t want. Okay? You don’t have to eat anything you don’t want to.”

Harry cries for a bit longer, winding down after Louis starts methodically massaging up and down his back, stroking down his tail every few moments. Louis waits until he’s worn himself out and nearly gone to sleep before he makes a move.

“Baby,” Louis waits for a response that would indicate Harry’s fully calmed down but it doesn’t come, “can you tell me what you were upset about again?”

“Kitty food,” he whines immediately, “Don’t want to eat the kitty food from the bags or the – the,” he breathes in sharply. Louis’ never heard him say so many words before, so he doesn’t dare stop him, even if they’re so quiet he can barely make them out.

“Smelled the kitty food,” he breathes out shakily, “Scared, sorry, Loulou.”

“Oh, no, baby, you don’t have to be sorry. It’s okay, honey, I understand. You don’t have to talk about it anymore, we’ll go home so you can have a nap, okay? Bet you’re sleepy now, kitty.” Harry nods, not making any move to get into his cage that’s strapped onto the chair beside them.

“Do you want your cage or do you want to sit in a seat?” Harry stays motionless and silent for a few more moments, before deciding on the cage and reluctantly slipping out of Louis’ arms to get inside.

“Do you want your ball, honey?” Harry’s eyes brighten just a bit and he nods. Louis digs the ball out of the bag he’d tossed the ball into and gives it back to him after ripping the cardboard off of the outside. The rubbery texture of the outside is good for hybrids’ gums, the packaging reads, and Louis’ been noticing Harry sticking his fingers in his mouth distractedly to rub across his gums, so he figures it’ll be good for him if he decides to chew on it. Harry takes the ball, the bell jingling a bit in between their hands.

“You can play with it as much as you want, okay? You don’t have to worry about being quiet, remember?” Harry nods slowly, studying the ball and curling up in his cage. Louis closes the door, leaves it unlatched, and gets in the driver’s side to take them both home. He definitely cries just a little bit on the way home because did they really make him eat fucking cat food? And eat without utensils? His heart’s a little bit more than broken, but he’s trying his best to ignore it.

 

Harry sleeps for the next few hours, until Liam comes home, upstairs in his little bed, jingly toy clutched in one fist. Louis comes to wake him up after dinner’s ready because it’s been such a long time. He wakes easily, smiling up at Louis warmly and crawling into his arms, purring constantly. Louis pets him and his purrs continue until they’ve reached the dining table and Louis sets Harry down in his chair. He looks sleepy, but very calm, much different than when he first fell asleep in the car.

Liam sets a plate in front of him and tells him what everything is and how to eat it. Harry takes his fork as directed and eats slowly, like usual, sitting quietly between the two men. He zones out of their conversation, chewing on his fork absentmindedly when he forgets to keep eating.

“What’d you do today, Harry?” Liam asks after he and Louis are finished and waiting on him.

“Napped,” he says softly. His eyes brighten when he remembers what he’d done earlier and excitedly tells Liam, “Went shopping, Li.”

“You get a lot of clothes?”

Harry nods happily, “And French fries.”

Liam narrows his eyes at Louis, “From where?”

“Nowhere,” Louis replies, gesturing to Harry to keep quiet which makes him giggle. Liam retaliates by taking a bag of chips out of a cabinet and throwing the entire thing in the trash. Louis makes a face at him behind his back to make Harry laugh again.

Liam wants to watch the news, which Louis complains about, but he gets what he wants anyway. Harry sits in Louis’ lap and has a bottle, falling asleep almost immediately and drifting in and out throughout the evening, until Louis takes him upstairs to bed.

 

Harry lets Louis put him down in his cat bed – after helping him brush his teeth and changing him into a nappy – but he doesn’t look comfortable. He watches Louis as he walks around the room and between his bed and the bathroom anxiously, fiddling one blanket between his fingers. Louis notices and comes back over to him after he’s done with everything. He pets Harry’s ears and asks him if he’s alright. Harry shakes his head no.

“What do you need, kitty?” Then, “Do you wanna just sleep with me?”

Harry nods immediately, crawling into Louis’ lap. Louis picks him up and heads to his bed, but the kitten stops him, “Lou, Berry.”

“What?”

“Berry,” he points at his bed.

“Oh, is that your kitty’s name?” He smiles fondly, going back to Harry’s bed.

Harry grins and nods, “Strawberry.”

“Because she’s pink?” He nods in agreement, letting Louis tuck her underneath his arm. “Glad you like her.” Harry hugs Louis as he’s taken over to his bed and set down, wrapping his arms around Louis’ neck. When they finally settle in to sleep, Harry curls right up next to him and purrs. He nudges against Louis’ hand and grins up at him, purring and humming until Louis gets the hint and pets him, laughing.

“You’re very cute, sweetheart,” Louis laughs, stroking his hair. Harry purrs louder back at him. Louis pets him until the smile slips off Harry’s face and he’s relaxed, deep in sleep. Only then does he let himself fall asleep next to him.

 

It’s very early in the morning when Harry wakes up next. He nuzzles into Louis’ warm body and tries to go back to sleep, but he is woken again by a noise coming from the hall. He knows it’s Liam because he can hear the way his shoes click on the wood, a very distinctive _Liam_ noise that sets him far apart from Louis. He wants to stay and cuddle with Louis but he’s hungry and he has to go to the bathroom. Either way, the clock on the nightstand says seven and Louis doesn’t usually wake him up until it says nine, so he thinks he better get food now, since he isn’t sure when Louis will wake up.

He pads to the door in his pajamas – the pink sleep set Louis had picked at the mall – with Strawberry in his hand. He opens it slowly and peeks out, clutching Berry close in case there’s something to be scared of. Liam’s door is wide open and light floods the hall and his room. It’s only a few seconds later that Liam comes through the door, looping a tie around his neck. His eyes are drawn immediately to Louis’ door and he looks confused until he meets Harry’s eyes through the crack. For a fast second, Harry is a bit scared that he’s done something wrong or that he shouldn’t have bothered Liam, but it dissipates when Liam smiles brightly at him and says, “Morning, Harry, what’re you up so early for?” Harry grins back at him as his only answer.

“Is Louis up?” He shakes his head.

“Um – bathroom, Li? Please?”

“Yeah, kitty, come here, you can use the hall one,” he says, finishing his tie and pointing at the door across from him. Harry never did end up getting a tour of the house, so he only knows Liam’s room and Louis’ besides the rooms downstairs. He nudges his way out of Louis’ room and walks over to the bathroom. This bathroom looks a lot like the one downstairs next to the office, small, except this one has an added shower. He glances back at Liam and asks, “Stay, Li?” just to make sure. “Yeah, kitty, of course. Go ahead.”

While he’s in the bathroom and Liam is standing in the hall waiting, Louis wakes up and calls for Harry blearily from his room.

“He’s out here, Lou.” Louis stumbles out moments later at the same time Harry leaves the bathroom, shutting the door behind him.

“Loulou!” Harry cheers, running to him and crawling up his body into his arms, wrapping his own arms and legs tight around Louis for a hug. Louis massages up and down his back and gets him to purr easily.

“Do you want waffles for breakfast, Harry?” Harry just nods against Louis’ neck, he’s sure he’ll like it, whatever it is. Louis relays the message and Liam heads downstairs leaving them alone. Louis leans against the wall and pets Harry, cuddling him close for a moment and sighing tiredly.

“Sleepy, Loulou?”

“I’m fine, honey. I only just woke up and my kitty was gone -,” he teases, squeezing Harry and earning a giggle from it.

Sincerely, he mutters, “Sorry, Loulou.”

“It’s okay, kitty, you’re a good boy.” He nods, purring into Louis’ neck.

The purring stops as soon as Louis asks, “Have you washed your hands, kitty?” Louis laughs at him and carries him over to the bathroom. Louis sets him down in front of the sink. Harry meets his eyes in the mirror, a pout on his lips and messy sleep-hair curling around his neck. Strawberry is hanging by her paw in his hand, so Louis guides Harry’s hand up to the counter to set her down.

“There’s nothing to be scared of, right, kitten? It’s just water.” The kitten doesn’t say anything but doesn’t flinch when Louis turns the water on, slower than last time. He’s incredibly disappointed, however, when Louis gives him the soap and it’s _boring_ , not a bubble in sight. He whines sadly and Louis laughs at him softly.

“Sorry, kitty, we haven’t got the foam soap in every bathroom. Do you want to use the one from our room?” Harry nods. Louis doesn’t make him wash off the soap with water, just swipes a hand towel over his palm before taking him and Strawberry into the other bathroom.

The soap comes out bubbly this time and Harry dimples. “Better, kitty?” Louis laughs. He nods, smacking his hands together and making a bubble fly up to his nose. He looks at himself in the mirror and giggles, Louis laughs with him.

“C’mon, kitten, under the faucet, now,” Louis directs, making sure the water’s an okay temperature. Harry sticks his hands underneath to remove the bubbles without being guided. It’s very small and might be stupid, but Louis feels like the smile on Harry’s face is progress, even if not very much.

 

Harry wants to put on all of his clothes at once. He puts on pink leggings and Louis has to stop him from sliding blue sweatpants on top because he’ll get far too hot, especially with all of the blankets he buries himself underneath. He pouts, but obeys. He sticks to the pink leggings and one of the white sweaters he’d gotten that’s fleecy and soft. He purrs once he’s fully dressed, kitten printed socks and all.

He wants a pink blanket to match his outfit, so he grabs one from his bed, along with strawberry, and stands in front of Louis to be picked up and taken downstairs. Louis thinks he must be getting rather spoiled from all the carrying around he gets, but he also figures that, considering the life he’s had, he’s well deserving of it.

While Louis walks slowly down the steps, Harry puts a hand on his cheek and says softly, “Sleepy, Loulou?” He looks very tired to Harry, who’s only ever seen him after he’s been up for an hour or so.

“I’m okay, kitty, promise. We’ll have a cuddle after breakfast and nap for a bit, if it makes you feel better.” He grins and nods.

Liam’s mostly finished with the waffles by the time they come downstairs. Louis sets down Harry on the floor and he crawls into his chair at the island clumsily to watch the two men move around the kitchen, making up plates for them all.

A plate with one large waffle is set in front of him. It’s topped with strawberries – he picks one up with his claws immediately, almost instinctively, sticking it in his mouth – syrup, which he’s had before from the pancakes, and a mess of something white. He sticks the tip of his claw in and is confused by how light it is, the whole tip of his finger slips in before he knows it. He makes a surprised sound and pulls out his finger, examining it. He leans down to his plate to sniff it and he can’t smell a thing, so he leans in closer and wiggles his nose, still getting nothing.

Louis and Liam are laughing, so he looks up to find they’re laughing at him.

“It’s whipped cream, kitty. You’ve got some on your nose, now,” Louis says fondly, wiping it off with a napkin. He gestures to Harry’s finger which he’s been holding up and away from himself.

“Try it, kitten, you’ll like it a lot.” Harry licks what’s on his finger just gently and he smiles when he tastes it. He dimples and puts his whole finger in his mouth to get the flavor off.

“Good, Lou,” he smiles, going for more with his finger.

Liam stops him lightly, “No, no, H, use your fork, now.”

He pouts the entire time that Louis is cutting up his food. As he goes, he tells Harry it’s just the same as a pancake but in a different shape, so he’ll definitely enjoy it. He does enjoy it, very much. He likes to eat the syrup-covered strawberries separate, sliding them through as much whipped cream as possible each time, until a portion of the waffle is uncovered, but still saturated with syrup. He notices, while Louis and Liam are tiredly talking, that the delicious whipped cream comes out of the red bottle Louis put down just in front of him after he’d put some on his own plate. Harry takes it in hand and holds it up to Louis, asking for more.

Louis smiles and nods at him, going to put more on his plate. Liam looks sternly at him, then shocked when it only encourages Louis to give him even more, until the half waffle he has left over is invisible underneath the white cream.

“Lou,” he starts, setting down his plate frustratedly.

Louis pointedly ignores him, sliding his plate closer to Harry and scratching his ears. He tells him, “Ignore Liam, he’s boring, you can have all the whipped cream you want, kitty.” Really, after another few bites and a couple more forkfuls of whipped cream, he’s full, but he does make himself finish the strawberries before setting his fork down on his plate like Liam and Louis do.

Liam leaves once they’re done with breakfast. He tells Harry he teaches at a college, which is just school for adults. Harry hugs him before he goes, but then is passed back over to Louis, who he also hugs close. He purrs in his hold and waves goodbye to Liam when he walks out the door.

“You’re a good kitty, baby,” Louis says as the door shuts, standing there in the living room, just holding Harry. “Do you remember we’re having Niall and Zayn over tonight?” He hadn’t remembered, but now he’s very excited, sitting up in Louis’ arms.

“Niall? When?”

Louis laughs at him, eyes crinkling, “For dinner. They’ll be over when Liam comes home.” Harry pouts dramatically and slumps into Louis’ arms, Louis laughs again. Harry thinks to himself he likes making Louis laugh a lot, it’s pretty and calming.

“It’s not very long, kitty, especially since you’ll fall asleep at some point, won’t you?” He nods, he does like to nap.

 

Harry falls asleep wrapped in a blanket in Louis’ arms on the couch after having a bottle. Louis answers emails on his phone until the kitten’s warmth nearly puts him to sleep, too. That is, until the door bell rings, waking both of them up. Harry whines and makes a disgruntled noise, burrowing into the blanket and Louis. He only coos at the kitten, shushing him and setting him down on the couch before rushing to the door. It’s only a package, but it’s a package Louis’ been excited about getting.

It's mostly just bath bombs. He’d added a nail file, some nappies – the high quality, expensive kind that he knew the grocery store wouldn’t carry – shampoo and conditioner intended for curly hair that Louis thought would be better than the dollar tree shit he usually buys, and more sippy cups that have cuter patterns than the ones at the store had. He finished the cart last night and then overnighted it just because he could.

He opens the box on the kitchen island, trying to be careful not to wake up Harry, but the knife he’s using to tear open the tape falls out of his hand and clatters on the ground, despite his efforts. He curses when he sees Harry’s head peek over the couch to look at him.

“Hi, kitty,” he says, smiling at him. Harry gets up, wrapping his blanket around his shoulders and padding into the kitchen to stand beside Louis. He looks at the box curiously, then at Louis, waiting for an explanation.

“It’s just some stuff for you. Got you some more bath bombs.” He looks inside, watching as Louis pulls out bath bombs of all colors and scents. They get put into a bowl Louis grabs and the shampoo bottles get set down next to them.

At the bottom of the box is the nail file, except it’s more than Louis expected; the file came with an entire kit of manicure tools that he’s sure he’ll never use. Harry pulls the little clear package out and examines it before pulling the zipper open and pulling things out. Louis is about to tell him to leave it all in so that the plastic doesn’t make a mess, but he’s only digging through for one thing: a tiny bottle full of glitter. Louis thinks nothing of it, but Harry is _enthralled_ , holding it up to the light and shaking it around to get the glitter to move.

“That’s nail polish, kitty,” he walks around and takes the bottle out of his hand gently, twisting the cap open to show him. “You paint it over your nails and it makes them glittery.” Harry blinks at him.

“Pretty, Lou,” he whispers.

He grins, “We can paint your nails after we get all the stuff out, okay?” The hybrid nods quickly, immediately. Louis pets his hair and moves back to finish with the package, leaving Harry to stare at the bottle, amazed.

 

The box gets tossed out and the other items get put away where they belong upstairs. Afterwards, Louis sets them up at the coffee table with the TV turned onto Finding Nemo. Harry doesn’t pay as much attention this time, both because the part that’s playing is the part that he’s seen already and because Louis’ about to paint his nails with pretty pink glitter.

He’s told to keep his hand completely relaxed while Louis’ holds it steady. They’ve got a mostly empty bottle of purple nail polish remover next to them just in case Louis messes up or Harry doesn’t like it, but he’s _sure_ he’ll like it.

It’s a very calm and soothing thing to sit and get his nails painted. Watching the glitter get swiped over his nail relaxes him. They just sit there, mostly silent, while it’s done, the only noise the TV playing quietly.

On the second coat of his second hand, Harry shyly asks, “Can I show Niall my bed, Loulou?”

“Course you can, honey, I’m sure he’ll want to see.”

“And my new clothes?”

“Yep, those, too.”

He’s quiet for a bit, then whispers, “Hope he likes them, Lou.”

“Of course he’ll like them, baby. Why wouldn’t he?” Harry doesn’t answer. “He’ll love them all, don’t worry, kitty. I’m sure he’s just as excited to see your new things as you are to show him.” Harry nods softly, lifting his finished hand up to see.

“Don’t touch _anything_ , yet, kitty. It’ll smear. Just set your hand down and I’ll tell you when they’re done.” He nods obediently, placing his hand flat on the table.

 

Harry bounds to the door when Niall arrives; he hears his voice and sprints right into his arms. Niall, who’s in the middle of calling out, “Where’s my kitty?” Picks him right up and hugs him, laughing loudly. There’s a soft moment where Niall is just hugging Harry, the kitten’s head turned into his neck and Niall looks positively choked up over it. Of course, he’d been around since Harry first arrived at the adoption center and to see so much change in less than two weeks feels like a miracle. Harry pulls away to start talking, completely unprompted, and Niall’s eyes are red. Harry either doesn’t notice or he ignores it, either way, he goes on mumbling his sentences to Niall, still quiet, but not nonexistent like he’d been used to.

“Lou got me new clothes and stuffies ‘n a bed, Ni, do you want to see?”

“Oh, absolutely, lead the way,” he says, putting him down. Harry grabs his hand and guides him up the stairs, telling Louis, “I’ll be right back Loulou, ‘m gonna show Ni my kitty.” Louis wants to cry, too. Thank god they’re going upstairs.

 

In Louis’ room, Harry turns on the light switch and tells Niall where everything’s at. Niall doesn’t inform him that he’s been here before, he doesn’t want to stop the seemingly endless stream of words coming from the kitten, even if they’re ever so quiet.

“This is my bed, Ni,” he smiles brightly, dimples deep. He leads Niall over and kneels in front of the little bed. “Pink’s my favorite and Lou gets me all pink when I want it. My kitty is pink so I named her Strawberry. Don’t have names for everyone else,” he finishes, handing Strawberry over to Niall, who’s silently taking everything he says in, listening carefully for all of his words.

“Got so many, Niall, can’t name them all at once or I’ll forget.”

“That’s good thinking, Hazza,” he says, petting his hair. He surprises himself by how choked up he sounds when he speaks. He holds Strawberry in his hands and watches everything Harry points at.

“I like this Teddy a lot, too, Ni. He’s soft, feel.” Niall does. “All my blankies are soft, too. I have so many blankies and all of them are mine and Lou says I can use them whenever I want,” his smile is wider than Niall’s ever seen. “I also have a warmer for when I’m cold,” he points at the space heater plugged into the wall next to his bed, “and – and I can sleep with Lou whenever I’m cold or scared or – whenever.”

He stands suddenly and moves to Louis’ dresser against the wall, kneeling down and opening the bottom drawer.

“Ni, Lou got me clothes and I got socks with kitties on like me!” He wiggles his socked foot at Niall, he’s wearing a blue pair of crewneck socks with prints of black and white cats all over.

“That’s very cute, Harry, I like those,” he says, sitting beside him.

“I get to put all my socks and soft pants in here and all my other clothes get inside the closet with Louis’. Oh, and –,” he sticks his hand out for Niall to see, “Got pretty nail polish. Glittery,” he smiles brightly.

Harry gasps, twirling around towards the bathroom. “Wait,” he says, getting up and walking quickly to the bathroom. He comes back a moment later with a pink bath bomb in his hands. “Loulou made my bath pink and had bubbles. It was fun, Ni – fun. Liked it.”

“You liked your bath?” Niall gasps dramatically, “Never!” Harry giggles.

Downstairs, they hear the door open again and Zayn’s voice carrying through the hall.

“D’you wanna go meet Zayn, Haz? He’s very nice, you’ll love him.” Harry looks a bit nervous but nods and goes right into Niall’s waiting arms as he stands. He’s in such a good mood, vibrating in Niall’s arms and smiling, he’s hardly the same scared kitty that wouldn’t leave his cage just a few days ago.

“Louis’ doing you real good, isn’t he, Harry?” Niall asks softly.

“Yeah, Ni, _love_ Louis. Nice to me. Love him.”

“Good,” Niall chokes, “Good, kitty. I told you you would, didn’t I?” Harry nods, hugging him.

“Thank you, Ni,” he sighs, “Love Lou – and Li, too.” Niall can’t risk speaking again for fear of crying, so he just pets Harry’s back and carries him downstairs.

 

Though he gets rather quiet again after meeting a new person, Harry takes to Zayn very easily. It’s probably a combination of his very good mood and Zayn’s entire temperament. Zayn’s been taking care of young hybrids for years and he’s calmer and quieter than the rest of the men, most of the time. His presence is calming to Harry, someone quiet and calm at all times, never forgetting his presence or looking over him. He also shows Harry pictures of some of the kitties he takes care of. Harry loves these kitties, he looks at the silly pictures for ages, zooming in on the cats’ little ears and faces and tails. Zayn even compliments him on his socks and his nail polish.

Harry smiles all night. While they eat dinner, which is grilled chicken, he pouts only when Louis gives him a yellow sippy cup. They’ve only four chairs for their dining table, though (the fifth and sixth chairs are broken and it’s apparently Louis’ fault, Liam says, but he won’t admit it), so he gets to sit on Louis’ lap while they eat. It makes eating more difficult for Louis, but after Harry’s mostly done, he leans back against Louis’ chest and purrs contentedly, giving him plenty of space to finish his own food. He asks for a bottle afterwards and Louis says he has to finish his sippy cup before he gets a bottle which is sad, but Harry’s okay with it as long as he gets to sit with Louis while he drinks it.

Everyone’s finished their food and Harry’s resting against Louis’ chest, purring as he’s pet. Niall and Louis are fighting over something (Louis isn’t yelling and jumping the way he usually would because of Harry in his lap, everyone notices but no one says a thing), so Zayn leans over to Harry and says to him, “I hear you want to come visit the cats at my job, right?” Harry nods happily, but he doesn’t move out of Louis’ warmth.

“Love babies,” he says shortly, dimpling.

Zayn smiles back at him, “They’d love you, I’m sure. You should come see them sometime, definitely.” Harry leans up and waits for Louis to notice him. He does almost immediately and stops telling Niall he’s stupid long enough to ask, “Yeah, kitten?”

“Can I go see the babies?”

Louis nods, “Yeah, of course, honey.” Then, to Zayn, “When’s good?”

Zayn shrugs, “Tomorrow? Anytime, really.”

“Tomorrow?” Harry asks excitedly.

“Sure, yeah. We can go tomorrow.”

Harry smiles and leans back into Louis, wrapping his arms around his chest, “Thank you, Loulou.” Louis strokes his hair softly and resumes his conversation with Niall.

 

“Are you sleepy, kitty?” Harry shakes his head, leaning into Louis and hugging him.

“Are you sure? You didn’t nap very long today, it’s okay if you want to go to bed.”

He shakes his head again, “Not tired, Loulou. Want to play.”

“Alright, kitty, whatever you say,” he picks up Harry, carrying him into the living room.

They have monopoly set up – they _never_ finish that game, so he doesn’t know why they even try – and Harry wants to be the puppy, of course.

 

Harry’s falling asleep in Niall’s lap half an hour later. He’s been having his ears pet and the game is pretty boring to him since you only move your piece every so often and he doesn’t understand how to count his money anyway, so he has to be told when to sell his properties and when not to. He gave up a bit ago. He falls asleep and then jolts awake quickly once, then decides he does want to sleep and he wants to do it in Louis’ lap. He feels like he hasn’t cuddled with Louis enough tonight with everyone else around. He crawls out of Niall’s lap and into Louis’. He sits sideways and purrs lowly as he’s pet up and down his side. Louis pulls a blanket off the couch and tucks it around him.

He isn’t able to really sleep until Louis carries him upstairs, but he does fully relax there in his lap, eyes shut and rumbling a purr for the better part of another hour. Louis shakes him awake for a second to say goodbye to Niall and Zayn and he hugs them both before holding his arms up to Louis to be held again. Louis gets him ready to sleep and helps him brush his teeth, then turns his space heater on for him once he’s tucked in bed with Strawberry and his soft teddy.

“Night, Loulou, love you,” he whispers.

“Love you, too, kitty.”

**Author's Note:**

> please don't repost or translate thank u


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